I 


KEMAIN8 


OF 


LOST     EMPIRES: 


SKETCHES  OF 


THE  RUINS  OF  PALMYRA,  NINEVEH,  BABYLON,  AND 

PERSEPOLIS,  WITH   SOME   NOTES   ON  INDIA 

AND   THE   CASHMERIAN   HIMALAYAS. 


By  p.  V.  K  MYEKS,  A.M., 

A8800IATF.   A0TIIOR,  WITH    U.   M.  MYF.R8,  OF    "LIFE   AND   NATURE    UNDER   THi;   TKOPIOS. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


NEW    YORK: 
HARPER    &    BROTHERS,    PUBLISHERS, 

F  li  A  N  K  L  I  N     SQUARE. 

18  75.    ' 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  187-1,  by 

IIarpek  &  Brothers, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


l^ 


CDelrUatelr 


LASTING  AND  AFFECTIONATE  REMEMBRANCE 


MY  COMPANION   BROTHER. 


tr\  ^  f  ji  ^  r> 


INTRODUCTION. 


Iis"  giving  this  volume  to  tbe  public,  a  word  is 
requisite  in  regard  to  the  circumstances  out  of  which 
it  has  grown.  The  journey,  the  narrative  of  which 
runs  through  and  gives  unity  to  the  work,  was  per- 
formed by  the  late  Henry  M.  Myers  and  the  writer 
during  the  years  of  1871-2.  The  way  to  the  under- 
taking was  gradually  prepared.  My  brother  early 
became  enamored  of  the  natural  sciences,  botany, 
however,  being  his  ftivorite  study.  It  was  his  en- 
thusiastic devotion  to  science  that  led  to  his  appoint- 
ment, while  a  student  at  Williams  Colleofe,  as  a 
member  of  the  expedition  sent  out  by  the  Lyceum 
of  Natural  History  of  that  institution  to  the  tropical 
regions  of  South  America.  It  -was  my  own  fortune 
also  to  be  a  member  of  the  same  expedition.  This 
was  in  the  summer  of  1867.  Among  the  publications 
which  grew  out  of  the  discoveries  and  explorations 
of  the  different  members  of  this  party  was  a  joint 
history  of  the  expedition  by  Henry  M.  Myers  and 
the  present  writer,  which  was  given  to  the  public 


[y  INTRODUCTION. 

isle,  with  tlie  tropic  palms  that  he  loved  so  well 
shadowing  his  grave. 

Had  my  brother  been  spared  to  aid  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  this  volume,  it  would  certainly  have  been  im- 
pressed with  an  altogether  different  character.  As  it 
is,  it  embodies  what  most  engaged  my  own  interest 
and  most  deeply  traced  my  recollection.  The  title- 
page  of  the  volume  indicates  the  field  which  offered  to 
me  the  greatest  attractions  for  special  investigation. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  this  work  is  in  no  proper 
sense  a  narration  or  recital  of  personal  experiences ; 
it  has  been  my  purpose  to  render  it  something  of 
more  permanent  value.  It  would  have  been  a  com- 
paratively easy  task  to  edit  a  diary.  But  my  aim 
has  been  to  regard  the  jottings  of  my  note -books 
simply  as  hints  to  be  used  or  rejected  as  they  con- 
tributed, or  failed  to  contribute,  to  the  general  sym- 
metry of  a  preconceived  plan.  Besides  the  aid  of 
my  o^vn  journals,  I  have  received  many  suggestions 
from  the  carefully  kept  diary  of  my  brother.  The 
various  other  sources  whence  I  have  drawn  to  enrich 
these  pages,  and  the  different  authorities  upon  which 
I  have  at  times  depended,  will  be  found  sufficiently 
indicated  by  the  marginal  references.  I  wish,  how- 
ever, in  tliis  place  to  make  particular  mention  of 
Layard's  "  Nineveh  and  Babylon,''  llawlinson's  "  Five 


INTRODUCTION.  V 

Ancient  Monarchies,"  Binning's  "  Travels  in  Persia," 
and  Dr.  Butler's  "  Land  of  the  Veda" — works  which 
as  guides  have  been  of  invaluable  service  to  me. 

One  word  in  respect  of  the  illustrations :  a  num- 
ber are  from  sketches  made  by  the  writer;  others 
are  taken  from  photographs;  and  some  are  selec- 
tions from  material  gathered  by  my  Publishers.  In 
this  connection  I  must  not  fail  to  acknowledge  my 
deep  obligations  to  Miss  Ida  C.  Miller  for  the  work 
of  her  skillful  pencil,  and  for  the  assistance  which  her 
ready  pen  has  lent  in  the  preparation  of  the  volume 
for  the  press.  To  Mr.  W.  H.  Bottsford  I  wish  also  to 
express  my  indebtedness  for  artist  services. 

And  now  I  give  the  volume,  just  as  it  is,  into  the 
hands  of  the  public.  I  can  not  honestly  seek  im- 
munity from  criticism  by  pleading  haste,  for  I  have 
taken  time  for  the  preparation  of  the  work,  have 
written  with  care,  and  have  subjected  the  whole  to  a 
thorough  revision.  It  may  seem  at  times  that  the 
writer  has  strayed  from  his  sul)ject  to  follow  some 
philosophic  suggestion ;  but,  as  Felix  Jones  remarks, 
it  is  pardonable  to  step  out  of  one's  path  to  pluck  a 
flower,  provided  one  do  not  stop  to  dig  it  out  by  the 
roots.  It  is  also  sometimes  extremely  necessary  for 
us  to  go  beneath  externalities  if  we  would  discover 
the  lessons  which  are  intended  for  us.     Thus  to  the 


VI 


INTRODUCTION. 


superficial  observer  there  is  miieli  of  discouragement 
in  Asia ;  l3ut  to  the  thoughtful  student  there  is  more 
of  encouragement.  Upon  the  whole,  our  observations 
among  the  peoples  and  the  scenes  of  the  East  have 
strengthened  our  faith  in  human  nature,  and  exalted 
our  hopes  in  respect  of  human  destiny.  We  have 
certainly  seen  to  what  depths  of  degradation  human- 
ity may  sink ;  but  we  have  also  seen  how  ever-pres- 
ent and  responsive  are  its  susceptibilities  of  improve- 
ment. We  have,  moreover,  gained  a  new  under- 
standing of  the  infinite  power  of  religious  beliefs  and 
theories  of  government  in  shaping  the  destinies  of  a 
people.  We  have  learned  somewhat  of  the  meaning 
of  the  successions  of  history,  and  have  had  opened  to 
us  grander  vistas  into  the  past  of  the  nations  of  the 
East.  If,  when  viewing  the  future  of  those  warm 
and  impulsive  races  in  the  new  light  thus  gained, 
we  have  written  with  the  glow  of  enthusiasm,  we 
may  hope  for  indulgence;  for  we  have  written  in 
the  firm  conviction  that  the  dayspring  of  a  future  far 
more  glorious  than  that  past — the  reminiscences  of 
whose  splendor  has  been  borne  down  to  us  by  so 
many  noble  monuments — is  already  tinting  the  sky 

of  the  Orient. 

P.V.N.M. 

Columbus,  O.,  November,  1874. 


CONTENTS- 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    RUINS    OF    PALMYRA. 

Contrast  between  Eastern  and  Western  Asia.— Kemains  of  Empire  in 
the  Latter.— History  of  Palmyra.— Isolation  of  the  Ruins.— Prepa- 
rations for  our  Journey.— Oasis  of  Damascus.— A  Bedawy  Escort.— 
An  Excitement.  —  Our  Guard  Strengthened.  —  A  Night  upon  the 
Desert.— First  Glimpse  of  the  Ruins.— Walls  of  Palmyra.— Extent 
of  the  Remains.— Mausoleums.— The  Great  Colonnade.— Beautiful 
Temples.  — Overturned  Altars.— The  Triumphal  Arch.— The  Temple 
of  the  Sun.— The  Walls  of  the  Court.— Magnificent  Gateway.— Beau- 
ty of  the  Desecrated  Shrine.- Tower-tombs.— SubteiTanean  Sepul- 
chres.— The  Castles. — An  Impressive  View Page  15 

CHAPTER  II. 

RUINED    CITIES    OF    NORTHERN    STRIA. 

Departure  from  Palmyra. — Lost  on  the  Desert. — Arab  Sagacity.— Vale 
of  Cojle -'Syria.— Ancient  Cities. — The  Pathway  of  Armies.— Arab 
Plowing.  —  Site  of  Arethusa. — Fields  of  Basalt.  —  Hamath. — The 
Hamath  Inscriptions.— Alone  on  the  Desert.— Ruins  of  Apamea. — 
Grand  Colonnade.— Condition  of  the  Ruins.— Valley  of  the  Oron- 
tes.— Ruined  City  of  El-Bara.— Palaces.— Tombs.— Other  Ruined 
Cities. — Cause  of  Depopulation 44 

CHAPTER  HI. 

ACROSS    THE    MESOPOTAMIAN    PLAINS. 

Description  of  Aleppo.— A  Curiosity  Shop.— Malum  Alepporum.— Our 
Departure  for  Nineveh.— Artificial  Tells.— A  Superstition  of  the  Des- 
ert.—State  of  the  Country.— The  Euphrates.— A  Native  Ferry.— 
Town  of  Birijic— A  Refreshing  Scene.— Incidents  of  Travel. — Ur 
of  the  Chaldees.— A  Lonely  Cemetery.— Ruins  of  Verran  Sherahr. — 
Rock-built  Tombs.— Bedawin  Hospitality.— Meteorological  Phenom- 


VIU 


CONTENTS. 


ena.— Mardin.— The  Castle.— A  Grand  Outlook.— The  Town.— Prot- 
estant Mssions. — A  Serious  Accident. — We  Resume  our  Journey. — 
Mesopotamian  Villages. — Ruins  of  Dara. — Site  of  the  Roman  Town 
of  Nisibis.— Along  the  Tigris.— Mosul Page  60 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    EUINS    OF    NINEYEH. 

Contrast  between  Assyrian  and  Roman  Ruins. — Size  of  Ancient  Nine- 
veh.—  Scriptural  Argument. — Topographical  Evidences. — Nineveh 
and  Babylon  each  Constructed  on  a  Different  Plan. —Condition  of 
the  "Walls  of  Nineveh  when  Seen  by  the  Ten  Thousand.— Their 
Dimensions.  —  Outer  Fortifications. — The  City  Gates. — Mound  of 
Koyunjik. — Palace-mounds  of  the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians. — De- 
Irris  of  the  Ninevite  Palaces.— Nebbi  Yunus.— Moslem  Tradition.— 
General  Construction  of  an  Assyrian  Royal  Residence. — French  and 
English  Excavations. — Cuneiform  Decipherment. — Chaldsean  Tradi- 
tion of  the  Deluge. — Nineveh's  jjresent  Desolation 98 

CHAPTER  V. 

RAFTING    ON    THE    TIGRIS. 

Our  Kellic. — Floating  Down. — River  Scenes. — Rapids.— Historical  As- 
sociations.—Our  Crew  and  Passengers.— The  Captain's  Reproof.— 
Our  Guard  Mohammed.— Praying  on  a  ZeZ^ic— Storms  and  Delays. 
— Crossing  the  River  on  Inflated  Skins  for  Provisions. — Fatalism. — 
Botanizing. — Arrival  at  Tibrit 136 

CHAPTER  VI. 

RAFTING    ON    THE    TIGRIS CONCLUDED. 

An  Unpremeditated  Start.— Attempts  to  Stop  the  Runaway  Raft. — 
Rapid  Progress  toward  Bagdad. — A  Fearful  Night  Voyage. — Shoot- 
ing Rapids  in  the  Darkness. — A  Narrow  Escape. — Aground  on  a 
Submerged  Island.— Our  Scattered  Crew.— Arabs  as  Swimmers.— 
An  Exciting  Landing.— Carried  Ashore. — BaclsJiish. — Repairing  the 
Shattered  Kellic. — Arab  Village  of  Samarah. — The  IMinaret. — Exten- 
sive Ruins. — An  Arab  Settlement. — Resume  our  Voyage. — A  Na- 
tive's Way  of  Taking  Passage.— The  Valley  of  the  Tigris.— Bal^y- 
lonia  a  Gift  of  tlie  Tigris  and  Euphrates. — Its  Present  Desolation. — 
Change  in  the  Bed  of  the  Tigris.— Scenes  along  the  River. — Arab 
Villages.— Great  Width  of  the  Tigris.— Saratia.— A  Village  Under- 
mined   153 


CONTENTS.  ix 

CHAPTER  VIL 


Origin  of  Bagdad. — The  Saracenic  Conquest. — Early  History  of  the 
City. — Oriental  Splendor. — Science  and  Literature. — Decline  of  the 
Power  of  the  Caliphs. — Bagdad  of  To-day. — Site  of  the  City. — Views 
along  the  Tigris. — A  Railroad. — A  Summer  Palace.  —  Government- 
house. —  Hospital.  —  Coflee-houses.  —  General  View  of  the  City. — 
Streets  and  Bazaars. — The  People. — English  Residency. — Courts. — 
Subterranean  Apartments. — Ornamentation  of  Rooms.  —  An  Indian 
Prince.  —  Mosaic  Poiiulation.  —  Babel  of  Languages,  —  Sabbaths  in 
Bagdad. — Religious  Edifices. — Telegraphs. — Steam  upon  the  Tigris. 
— Modern  Improvements Page  174 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    EUINS    OF    BABYLON. 

Present  Condition  of  Babylonia. — Ancient  Canals. — Nahr  Malcha. — 
Former  State  of  Babylonia. — An  Oasis.  —  Mountains  of  Ruins. — 
General  Appearance  of  the  Site  of  Babylon. — Palace -Mounds. — EI- 
Kasr. — Babylonian  Bricks  and  Masonry.  —  A  Sculptured  Lion. — A 
Venerable  Tree. — View  from  the  Kasr. — Mound  of  Amran. — Ruins 
of  Neriglissar's  Palace. — "Walls  of  the  Royal  Quarter. — The  Hang- 
ing Gardens. — The  Mujelibee.  — Objections  to  Considering  it  the 
Remains  of  the  Temple  of  Belus. — Birs  Nimrud. — Description  of  the 
Mound. — A  Babylonian  Temple.  —  Conflicting  Theories  respecting 
the  Ruin.  —  Probable  Identification  of  the  Birs  with  the  Tower 
of  Babel. — Chaldsean  Traditions. — Fire-blasted  Appearance  of  the 
Ruins  explained.  —  Designs  of  the  First  Builders.  —  Testimony 
of  the  Inscriptions. — The  Walls  of  Babylon. — The  Fulfillment  of 
Prophecy 200 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    LOWER    TIGRIS    AND    SHAT-EL- ARAB. 

Departure  from  the  City  of  the  Caliphs. — Mounds  of  Seleucia  and  Ctes- 
iphon. — Ruins  of  the  White  Palace  of  Khosru. — Sacked  by  the  Sara- 
cens.— Its  Treasures. — A  Royal  Persian  Carpet. — Madayn. — The  An- 
cient Nahrwan  Canal. — A  Paradise  Transformed  into  a  Desert. — 
River  Scenes. — Mountain  Views. — An  Unsuccessful  Experiment. — 
Through  the  Marshes.— A  Meandering  River. — Amphibious  Arabs. 
— Junction  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates.^ — Garden  of  Eden. — The 


X  CONTENTS. 

Shat-el-Arab. — Tropical  Forest. — A  Beautiful  Water-jDath. — Amazo- 
nian Scene. — Picture  of  Arab  Life. — Pilgrims  from  Mecca. — Pilgrim- 
ages and  Railroads. — The  Steamship  Cashmere. — A  Wonderful  Coun- 
try.— In  the  Persian  Gulf. Page  254 

CHAPTER  X. 

CARAVAN    LIFE    IN    PERSIA. 

First  View  of  the  "Land  of  Roses."— The  Town  of  Bushire.— Startled 
by  a  Velocipede. — A  Dragoman  who  Wanted  to  See  the  Countiy. — 
Persian  Mendacity. — A  CMrmdar  on  Time.— What  Xenophon  says 
about  Persian  Character. — Departure  from  Bushire. — Traveling  by 
Night. — A  Sand- Storm. — Telegraph  Line  Prostrated. — Brazgoon. — 
Effects  of  the  Famine. — Dalikee. — The  Edge  of  the  Great  Plateau  of 
Iran. — Mountain  Wildness  and  Beauty. — A  Detention. — A  Mountain 
Trail.— The  Pass  of  Mullook.— The  Plain  of  Khisht.— Moslem  Devo- 
tions.—The  Village  of  KoonarTukhteh.— The  Pass  of  Kumaridj.— A 
Sequestered  Spot.— The  Plain  of  Kauzeroon.— The  Town.— Persian 
Way  of  Advertising. — The  Simplon  of  Persia. — A  Lovely  Vale. — The 
Pass  of  the  Old  Woman. — Deshti  Aijun. — A  Geological  Phenomenon. 
— A  Lion  among  our  Animals. — Banditti. — Gardens  of  Shiraz. — Pil- 
grims Welcomed  Home 272 

CHAPTER  XI. 

SHIRAZ. 

The  Valley  of  Shiraz. — Distant  View  of  the  City. — Streets  and  Bazaars. 
— Interior  of  the  Dwellings.^Public  Buildings. — Population. — Gar- 
dens of  Shiraz. — Baghi  Now. — Jehan  Nema. — Baghi  Taklit. — The 
Tomb  of  Hafiz. — His  Odes. — Tomb  of  Saadi. — Effects  of  the  Famine 
at  Shiraz. — The  Fundamental  Cause  of  Asiatic  Wretchedness. — The 
Oriental  Doctrine  of  Isolation.— Lessons  of  the  Famine 300 

CHAPTER  Xn. 

THE    RUINS    OF    PERSEPOLIS. 

Historical  Sketch. — Alexander  at  the  Tomb  of  Cyrus.— Site  of  the  Per- 
sepolitan  Remains. — The  Cyclopean  Platform. — A  Magnificent  Stair- 
way.—Grand  Propyla-um. — Gigantic  Wardens. — Stanley  and  Anti- 
quarians.— A  richly  Sculi)tured  Staircase. — The  Audience  Hall  of 
Xerxes. — Hall  of  the  Hundred  CoUunns. — Oriental  Hall  of  Audience. 
— Ruins  of  tlie  Palaces  of  Cyrus,  Darius,  and  Xerxes. — Massive  Por- 
tals.— Apartments  of  the  Palace. — Nature  of  the  Sculptures. — Rock- 


CONTENTS.  Xi 

hewn  Tombs. — Rock-cut  Fa9ades. — Remains  of  the  City  of  Persepo- 
lis. — Fortified  Gate. — A  Curious  Tower. — Rock  Tablets Page  319 


CHAPTER  Xlir. 

FROM    SHIRAZ    TO    CASHMERE. 

Departure  from  Shiraz. — An  Attack. — Descent  to  the  Coast. — On  Board 
the  Ethiopia. — Persian  Gulf. — Muscat. — Coast  of  Beloochistan. — Har- 
bor of  Bombay. — Great  Indian  Peninsula  Railway. — Over  the  Ghauts. 
— Allahabad. — Lahore. — Traveling  by  Dak. — Bungalows.  —  Palan- 
quin Travel. — Foot  of  the  Himalayas. — Bhimur.— In  the  Saddle. — 
Saidabad. — A  Picturesque  Valley. — Grand  Views. — Naoshera  Val- 
ley.— Scenery  among  the  Hills. — Ruined  Serais. — Great  Moguls. — 
Passage  of  the  Ruttan  Pir. — Tropical  Forest. — Alpine  Scenery. — 
Poshiana. — An  Arab  Scene. — A  Fractious  Animal. — Pass  of  the  Pir 
Punjal. — Coloration  of  Flowers. — Scenery  about  Aliabad  Serai. — 
Glimpse  of  the  Vale  of  Cashmere. — Shapiyon. — Across  the  Valley. — 
Encamijed  in  the  Gardens  of  Cashmere 341 

CHAPTER  Xiy. 

THE    VALE     OF    CASHMERE    AND    ITS    RUINED    TEMPLES. 

Names  applied  to  the  Vale. — Moore's  "  Lalla  Rookh." — Beauties  of  the 
Valley. — Encircling  Mountains. — Passes.  —  Jhelum  River.  —  Lateral 
Valleys. — Avenues  of  Trees. — Akbar's  Visits. — Climate  of  the  Vale. 
— Vegetation. — Fruits. — Roses. — A,  Sanatarium. — Given  up  by  the 
English  Government. — Influence  of  Scenery  on  National  Character. 
— Interesting  Ruins. — Temple  of  Martund. — Other  Temples. — Cash- 
merian  Traditions. — Serpent  Worship. — Hinduism. — Traces  of  Greek 
Art. — Spoliation  of  the  Ancient  Temples 366 

CHAPTER   XV. 

THE    CITY    OF    CASHMERE. 

Situation. — General  Appearance.  —  Buildings. — Canal  Streets. — Boats. 
— River  Scenes. — English  Stores.  —  Bridges. — Maharajah's  Palace. 

—  Swiss  and  Venetian  Scenes.  —  English  Visitors.  —  An  Official's 
Barge.  —  Cashmerian  Amazons.  —  Bathers.  —  Relics.  —  Wood  from 
the  Mountains.  —  Jumna  Meshjed.  —  Maharajah's  Bazaar.  —  Below 
the  City.  —  Citadel.  —  Night   on  the  River.  —  An  Eastern  Venice. 

—  Gardens  of  Cashmere.  —  Shalimar  Bagh.  —  Nishat  Bagh.  —  Isle 
of  Chenars.  —  Floating  Gardens.  —  Population  of  Cashmere.  —  Peo- 
ple. —  Effects    of    Climate    on    Complexion.  —  Dress.  —  Character. 

B 


XJI  CONTENTS. 

— Women.  — Thomas  Moore. —]\Ianufactures.  —  Sbawls. —Nature  as 
a  Teacher Page  388 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

MONUMENTS    OF    THE    GREAT    MOGUL    EMPIRE    IN    INDIA. 

Descent  to  the  Plains  of  India.— Change  Wrought  by  the  Monsoons. 
— Multiplicity  of  Scenes.  —  Architectural  Monuments  of  the  Great 
Moguls.— Sketch  of  the  Tartar  Tribes.— Conquests  of  Zingis  Khan 
and  Timour.  —  The  Mongol  Empire  in  India  Compared  with  the 
Moorish  Kingdom  in  Spain.— Splendor  of  the  Great  Mogul  Court.— 
The  Mohammedan  Sovereigns  of  Delhi  and  the  Sepoy  Rebellion.— 
Our  Arrival  at  Delhi.— The  Dewani  Khass.— Persian  and  Indian  Au- 
dience Halls.— Beauty  of  the  Structure.— The  Peacock  Throne.— 
Jumna  Musjed.— Ruins  of  Old  Delhis.— The  Kutub  Minar.— Agra.— 
The  Taj  Mahal.— The  Beauty  of  this  Mausoleum.— Contrasted  with 
that  of  Zobeide's.— Palace  of  Akbar.— Pearl  Mosque.  — Cawnpore 
and  Lucknow.— The  Well.— The  Relief  of  Lucknow.— Benares.— Its 
Temples  and  Shrines 414 

CHAPTER  XVn. 

PROGRESS    IN    THE    EAST. 

The  Great  Moguls.— The  English  in  India.— East  India  Company.— 
India  as  England's  Ward.— The  Establishment  of  Order  and  Good 
Government.— Railways.— Their  Effect  on  Caste.— Steamship  Lines. 
— Municipal  Improvements. — Schools  and  the  Press. — Hinduism. — 
Influence  of  Western  Science  on  Eastern  Mythologies. — Has  there 
been  More  than  One  Centre  of  Revelation  ? — Hinduism  mrms  Chris- 
tianity.—Shall  we  Civilize  but  not  Christianize  ? — Civilization  and 
Christianity  Inseparable.  —  India's  Position  in  the  History  of  the 
East. — General  Awakening  in  Asia.— Sclavonic  Influence  in  Central 
Asia. — Alleged  Inferiority  of  the  Asiatic  Mind.— Religious  Instinct  of 
the  Oriental.— The  Future  of  Asia  viewed  in  the  Light  of  the  Past.— 
Immobility  of  Oriental  Races. — Cause  to  be  found  in  their  Religious 
Systems. — Progress  not  Metamorphosis. — Relations  of  the  West  to 
the  East 455 


APPENDIX. 

ANCIENT    GLACIERS    AMONG    THE    HIMALAYAS 489 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


The  Rurss  of  Palmyra Frontispiece. 

Palmtrian  Towek-tomb Page  39 

The  Ruins  of  Apamea Faces  p.  57 

RuTNED  Dwelling  at  El-Bara,  Syrl\ 62 

Mesopotamia^  Plains 66 

Ancient  Tell  and  Arab  Village 73 

The  Ruins  of  Nineveh Faces  p.  99 

Excavation  of  an  Assyrian  Palace 118 

Assyrians  Flaying  their  Prisoners 130 

Cuneiform  Tablet 133 

The  Deluge  Tablet 123 

Runaway  Raft  on  the  Tigris Faces  p.  156 

The  Rums  of  Samarah 163 

Mosque  of  Imam  Moussa,  near  Bagdad 171 

Bridge  of  Boats,  Bagdad Faces  p.  186 

xYncient  Babylonian  Canals. 203 

Plan  of  the  Mounds  of  Babylon 207 

Babylonian  Brick 210 

B.\BYL0NiAN  Lion 211 

Mound  of  Mujelibee 219 

Ruins  of  Birs  Nimrud 223 

Tak-Kesra,  on  the  Site  of  Ctesiphon 255 

The  Ruins  of  Persepolis Faces  p.  319 


xiv  LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PKOPTLiEA  OF  Xerxes Page  329 

Avenue  of  Poplars,  Cashmere 370 

Ruins  op  the  Temple  op  Martund 380 

Pandrenton  Temple 382 

View  of  the  Jhelum  above  Cashmere 393 

First  Bridge  across  the  Jhelum,  Cashmere Faces  p.  394 

Taj  Mahal,  Delhi 438 

Benares,  Sacred  City  of  the  Hindus    451 

PsEUDO -Moraines  in  the  Das  Valley 497 

Moraines,  Sinde  Valley 502 

Terminal  Moraines,  Sinde  Valley 509 


REMAINS  OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE    EUINS     OF     PALMYRA. 

Contrast  between  Eastern  and  "Western  Asia. — Remains  of  Empire  in 
the  Latter. — History  of  Palmyra. — Isolation  of  the  Ruins. — Prepa- 
rations for  our  Journey. — Oasis  of  Damascus. — A  Bedawy  Escort. — 
An  Excitement. — Our  Guard  Strengthened.  —  A  Night  upon  the 
Desert. — First  Glimpse  of  the  Ruins. — Walls  of  Palmyra. — Extent 
of  the  Remains. — Mausoleums. — The  Great  Colonnade. — Beautiful 
Temples. — Overturned  Altars. — The  Triumphal  Arch. — The  Temple 
of  the  Sun. — The  Walls  of  the  Court. — Magnificent  Gateway. — Beau- 
ty of  the  Desecrated  Shrine.^Tower-tombs. — Subterranean  Sepul- 
chres.— The  Castles. — An  Impressive  View. 

Theee  is  a  great  contrast  between  Eastern  and 
Western  Asia.  Althongli  the  nations  beyond  the 
Indus  may  lay  claim  to  almost  as  venerable  an  an- 
tiquity as  the  ancient  monarchies  that  flourished  in 
the  valley  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  or  rose  on 
the  table-lands  of  Iran,  still,  instead  of  havinsf  run 
through  their  course  with  a  sort  of  meteoric  brillian- 
cy, as  did  all  the  empires  of  Western  Asia,  they  have, 
through  various  conservative  causes,  been  kept  from 
decadence  and  ruin,  and  to-day  exhibit  a  prosperity 
— a  social,  political,  and  numerical  development — un- 
surpassed during  any  preceding  period ;    for  those 


IQ  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

literary  memorials  of  a  distant  age  existing  in  the 
lands  of  Buddha  and  Confucius  by  no  means  justify 
the  inference  that  those  countries  long  ago  enjoyed 
a  golden  era  of  national  grandeur  and  universal  cult- 
ure ;  though  they  may  evidence  periods  of  unusual 
activity  in  the  schools  of  their  poets  or  philosophers 
or  moralists.     In  India,  indeed,  there  are  some  im- 
portant architectural  remains  of  a  high  antiquity; 
but  so  overshadov^ed  are  these  by  the  omnipresent 
life  and  splendid  monuments  of  the  present,  that  they 
are  passed  almost  unnoticed  save  by  the  antiquarian. 
But  in  Western  Asia  it  is  very  different.     The 
principal  features  of  the   countries  represented  by 
Syria,  Turkey,  and  Persia  are   neglect,  decay,  and 
death.     A  hoary  antiquity  seems  to  rest  on  the  face 
of  the  worn  hills  of  Palestine ;  silence  reigns  in  the 
Syrian  valleys ;  desolation  broods  over  the  Mesopo- 
tamian  and  Chaldean  plains  ;  Elam  lies  waste.     Yet 
here  were  the  seats  of  the  greatest  monarchies  of  an- 
cient times,  populous  and  powerful  enough  to  work 
out,  on  the  most  imposing  scale,  the  grandest  events 
of  history.      But  while  the   results  of  all  the  life 
and  movements  of  those  early  times  have  entered 
into  and  formed  the  best  elements  of  a  later  civiliza- 
tion, those  great  monarchies — Chaldean,  Syrian,  As- 
syrian, Median,  Babylonian,  and  Persian — have  them- 
selves disappeared,  and  the  countries  that  they  once 
filled  with  their  noise  are  become  silent  and  desolate. 


THE  RUINS   OF   PALMYRA.  17 

Scattered  all  over  these  regions  are  extensive  ruins 
and  imposing  monuments  of  forgotten  age — the  re- 
mains of  once  mighty  and  proud  capitals,  "  crushed 
beneath  the  weight  of  prophecy,"  or  "  broken  down 
by  the  tramp  of  passing  centuries  " — evidence,  in  the 
midst  of  present  desolation  or  wretchedness,  of  past 
populousness,  magnificence,  and  affluence. 

But  it  is  not  alone  remains  of  those  early  mon- 
archies of  Asian  origin  that  the  traveler  stumbles 
upon  in  wandering  over  those  regions  to-day.  Three 
centuries  before  our  era  Alexander  carried  the  arms 
of  Greece  across  Asia  to  the  Indus.  Under  the  Se- 
leucidse,  Art  followed  in  the  track  of  Conquest.  Se- 
leucus  Nicator,  the  founder  of  the  Syrian  monarchy, 
justly  earned  his  title  of  "Royal  Architect"  from 
the  indulgence  he  allowed  to  his  passion  for  archi- 
tectural embellishments.  Then  came  the  Romans, 
creators  of  cities  as  well  as  builders  of  roads.  In  the 
second  century  of  our  era,  Rome  could  boast  of  five 
hundred  cities,  in  the  Asiatic  provinces  of  the  empire, 
that  had  either  been  founded,  or  enlarged  and  beauti- 
fied, by  the  successors  of  Caesar. 

Among  the  cities  that  received,  during  the  period 
of  Roman  domination  in  Asia,  the  patronage  of  the 
emperors,  Palmyra* — the  Tadmor  of  Scripture — was 


*  Tadmor,  signifying  "  City  of  Palms,"  was  the  Hebrew  name.  Pal- 
myra is  the  Greek  and  Latin  translation  of  this  word.  The  city  was 
also  known  to  the  Romans  as  Hadrianapolis,  "  City  of  Hadrian." 


18  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

one  of  the  most  favored.  Palmyra's  history  possesses 
a  tragic  interest,  and  the  name  of  a  woman  lends  to 
it  a  glow  of  romance.  A  tragic  interest,  we  say,  for 
although  Palmyra  enjoyed  for  a  period  imperial  fa- 
vor, still  her  own  ambition  and  the  envy  of  Rome 
rendered  her  at  last  the  Carthage  of  Asia ;  and  we 
speak  of  romance,  because  the  story  of  Zenobia,  the 
gifted  and  beautiful  "  Queen  of  the  East,"  is  a  large 
part  of  the  city's  history. 

Nature  herself  marked  out  the,  site  for  the  city. 
Away  in  the  Syrian  desert,  about  midway  between 
Damascus  and  the  Euphrates,  a  range  of  low,  ver- 
dureless  hills  breaks  the  monotonous  level  of  the 
plain ;  and  from  beneath  these  rocky  ledges,  which 
give  as  little  promise  of  gushing  fountains  as  the  un- 
smitten  rock  of  Kadesh,  several  springs  pour  out  co- 
pious streams,  that  create  a  little  oasis  in  the  midst 
of  the  dreary  expanses  of  sand.  The  spot  must  have 
been  a  favorite  camjung-place  of  the  tribes  that  first 
roved  the  Syrian  desert.  As  soon  as  commerce 
sprang  up  between  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean 
and  the  valley  of  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates,  it  be- 
came the  resting-place  for  the  caravans  engaged  in 
this  trade.  Here  must  have  halted  the  travel-worn 
trains,  ladened  with  the  rich  commodities  of  India, 
Persia,  and  Babylonia,  on  their  way  to  Syria  and 
Egypt ;  and  here  were  unladened  the  treasures  of 
Thebes   and   Memphis,  the  costly   manufactures    of 


THE   RUINS   OF  PALMYRA.  19 

Tyre  and  Siclon,  destined  for  the  bazaars  of  the  far- 
ther East. 

Solomon's  extensive  commercial  relations  with  Per- 
sia and  India  gave  a  new  importance  to  the  little 
oasis,  and  he  established  a  caravansary  there — "  built 
Tadmor  in  the  wilderness."  After  this  brief  notice 
by  the  sacred  writer,  the  name  almost  disappears 
from  history  for  twelve  centuries.  But  with  the  ex- 
tension of  the  Roman  power  in  Asia,  Palmyra  rea2> 
pears,  and  for  a  considerable  time  maintains  itself  as 
a  free  city  on  the  oft-disputed  frontier  of  the  Roman 
and  Parthian  empires — a  freedom  due  rather,  as  the 
historian  Gibbon  presumes,  to  the  indulgent  policy 
of  the  contending  parties,  than  to  its  seeming  inacces- 
sibility by  an  army  in  its  desert  home.  About  the 
beginning  of  the  second  century  of  our  era,  however, 
the  campaigns  of  Trajan  having  pushed  the  frontier 
of  the  em2:)ire  beyond  the  Euphrates,  Palmyra  be- 
came a  Roman  colony,  and  for  more  than  one  hun- 
dred years  sustained  a  dependent  relation  to  Rome. 

Its  magnificent  ruins  evidence  the  partiality  with 
which  royal  patronage  was  bestowed  upon  it  during 
this  its  Augustan  period.  Hadrian,  the  Antonines, 
and  succeeding  emperors,  with  munificent  liberality, 
aided  the  cultured  and  ambitious  Palmyrians  in  the 
architectural  embellishment  of  their  city.  In  every 
part  it  was  adorned  with  grand  colonnades,  porticoes, 
triumphal  arches,  monumental  columns,  inscribed  al- 


20  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

tars,  temples  and  palaces  and  theatres  and  mauso- 
leums, till,  in  the  number,  richness,  and  beauty  of  its 
public  monuments,  it  seemed  to  rival  even  Rome  it- 
self. The  effect  upon  the  imagination  of  all  this  ar- 
chitectural magnificence  must  have  been  heightened 
from  its  appearing  to  the  traveler  vrho  approached 
the  city  to  rise,  as  by  magic,  out  of  a  dreary  waste  of 
sand.  Doubtless  many  a  weary  traveler,  as  the  city 
rose  upon  the  desert,  looked  upon  all  this  grandeur, 
flitting  in  the  quivering  air  along  the  horizon,  as  only 
another  illusion  of  the  mocking  mirage.  In  its  clos- 
ing history  it  indeed  looms  up,  and  then  disappears, 
like  the  phantom  of  the  desert. 

When  the  prestige  of  the  Roman  legions  had  been 
lost  by  a  humiliating  defeat,  and  for  the  first  time  in 
the  history  of  the  empire  a  Roman  emperor  (Vale- 
rian) taken  captive,  the  forces  of  Palmyra,  under 
Odenatus,  beat  back  the  Persian  army,  and  saved,  or 
rather  restored,  the  honor  of  the  Roman  name.  The 
brilliant  military  talent  of  the  Palmyrian  prince,  in 
subsequent  encounters  with  the  enemies  of  Rome  in 
the  East,  elicited  to  such  a  degree  the  admiration  and 
gratitude  of  its  Senate,  that  they  conferred  upon  him 
the  title  of  Augustus,  and  bestowed  marks  of  honor 
upon  other  eminent  Palmyrians.  Zenobia,  the  wife 
of  Odenatus,  succeeded  to  his  authority.  She  is  said 
to  have  been  the  daughter  of  an  Arab  sheik,  and  she 
traced  her  descent  from  the  Egyptian  Cleopatra.     By 


THE  RUINS   OF  PxVLMYRA.  21 

nature  she  had  been  crowned  queen  of  beauty ;  but 
that,  as  has  been  observed  of  another  similarly  favor- 
ed, was  little  satisfaction  to  an  ambitious  spirit.  She 
assumed  the  title  of  "  Queen  of  the  East,"  and  be- 
came an  open  rival  of  the  emperors  of  Rome.  She 
possessed,  in  a  wonderful  degree,  the  fascinating 
charms  of  beauty  and  the  personal  magnetism  of 
her  sex.  By  the  citizens  of  Palmyra  and  the  soldiers 
of  her  army  she  was  loved  with  that  affecting  loy- 
alty and  devotion  which  sentiment  and  veneration 
inspire.*  This  command  of  the  affection  of  her  sub- 
jects favored  her  ambitious  designs.  She  proposed 
to  establish  in  the  East  an  empire  which  should  rival 
Rome  in  the  West;  and  under  the  inspiring  leader- 
ship of  their  heroic  and  beautiful  queen,  the  Palmy- 
rian  army  made  such  extended  and  brilliant  cam- 
paigns as  to  first  excite  the  amazement,  and  then  the 
envy  of  Rome.  Egypt  became  a  tributary  province 
to  an  empire  which  embraced  all  the  fairest  portions 
of  Western  Asia.  The  fame  of  Palmyra,  and  of  the 
"Queen  of  the  East,"  was  spread  throughout  the 
Roman  world.  With  Semiramis — if  ever  there  were 
a  Semiramis — Zenobia  might  have  said,  "  I  was  given 


*  Vide  Gibbon's  "  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,"  Chap. 
XI.  And,  if  the  reader  be  not  too  severely  critical,  let  him  read  that 
interesting  little  volume  entitled  "  Zenobia,  or  the  Fall  of  Palmyra," 
by  Rev.  William  Ware.  The  work  is  an  historical  romance,  founded 
upon  the  writings  of  Treb.  PoUio,  Zonoras,  Zosimus,  Vopiscus,  and 
Piso. 


22  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

the  form  of  a  woman,  but  my  deeds  have  equaled 
those  of  the  bravest  men."  Reports  of  the  assump- 
tion of  the  insignia  and  privileged  splendor  of  impe- 
rial authority  by  Zenobia  and  the  Palmyrian  court 
awakened  the  fears  or  aroused  the  resentment  of  Au- 
relian.  The  emperor  led  his  legions  against  the  Pal- 
myrian queen.  Twice  defeated  in  open  battle,  she 
was  driven  within  the  walls  of  her  desert  home. 
The  defense  of  the  city  was  long  and  stubborn.  De- 
spairing at  length  of  successful  resistance,  Zenobia 
attempted  flight;  but  from  the  Euphrates  she  was 
brought  back  a  j)risoner,  to  grace,  or  rather  to  dis- 
grace, a  little  later,  the  triumph  of  Aurelian  at 
Rome.'^" 

*  Following  Vopiscus  and  Zosimus,  the  historian  Gibbon  represents 
Zenobia  as  ungenerously  becoming  the  accuser  of  her  preceptor,  the 
famous  philosopher  Longinus,  in  order  to  shield  herself  from  jjunish- 
ment.  With  but  little  gallantry,  he  writes :  "  But  as  female  fortitude 
is  commonly  artificial,  so' is  it  seldom  steady  or  consistent.  The  cour- 
age of  Zenobia  deserted  her  in  the  hour  of  trial ;  she  trembled  at  the 
angry  clamors  of  the  soldiers,  who  called  aloud  for  her  immediate  exe- 
cution, forgot  the  generous  despair  of  Cleopatra,  which  she  had  pro- 
posed as  her  model,  and  iguominiously  purchased  life  by  the  sacrifice 
of  her  fame  and  her  friends.  It  was  to  their  counsels,  which  governed 
the  weakness  of  lier  sex,  that  she  imputed  the  guilt  of  her  obstinate  re- 
sistance ;  it  was  on  their  heads  that  she  directed  the  vengeance  of  the 
cruel  Aurelian."  This  charge  against  Zenobia  has  been  stoutly  denied 
by  other  writers.  Tlie  Rev.  William  Ware,  in  his  notes  to  "Zenobia," 
jironounces  it  unfounded  and  impi-obal)le.  But,  at  all  events,  Longinus 
suffered  execution  at  Emesa,  while  Zenobia  was  taken  to  Rome,  and, 
after  having  "  in  chains  of  gold  graced  the  emperor's  triumph,"  given 
a  splendid  villa  in  the  vicinity  of  Tibur.  Enjoying  the  considerate 
liberality  of  the  emperor,  and  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  her  cliildren 
admitted  to  alliances  with  the  first  Roman  families,  Zenobia  perhaps 


THE   RUINS   OF  PALMYRA.  23 

An  uprising  of  the  Palmyrians,  after  the  withdraw- 
al of  the  main  portion  of  the  Roman  army,  caused 
the  quick  return  of  Aurelian,  and  to  him  seemed  to 
justify  the  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  its  inhabit- 
ants and  the  giving  of  the  city  to  the  flames.  Thus 
Rome,  who  could  never  "  forgive  a  rival,"  blotted  out 
the  fair  city,  as  she  had  blotted  out  Carthage  before. 
After  this  event  we  have  only  a  few  obscure  notices 
of  this  once  brilliant  capital  of  the  "  Queen  of  the 
East;"  and  after  Timour  and  his  Mongol  hordes 
swept  over  those  regions,  even  the  site  of  the  city 
was  lost  to  the  civilized  w^orld.  The  Bedawin  were 
acquainted,  of  course,  with  the  spot ;  and  are  said  to 
have  told  to  the  European  traders  at  Damascus  and 
Aleppo  strange  stories  of  a  ruined  city,  with  splen- 
did temples  and  long  streets  flanked  with  columns, 
far  away  in  the  desert.  Naturally  enough,  these 
glowing  accounts  of  the  wonderful  city,  which  the 
imagination  w^as  free  to  invest  with  all  sorts  of  mys- 
terious grandeur,  stirred  curiosity,  and  led  to  the  or- 
ganization of  exj^editions  for  exploring  the  ruins. 
But  it  was  not  till  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  cent- 
ury that  any  travelers  succeeded  in  reaching  the  spot. 
About  the  middle  of  the  last  century  Wood  and 
Dawkins  visited  the  ruins,  and  made  some  magnifi- 

forgot  the  "  dream  of  an  Eastern  Empire ;"  but  reminiscences  of  her 
checkered  fortunes  as  Queen  of  Palmyra  must  have  gone  with  her  to 
the  Ecrave. 


24  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

cent  sketches.  These  evidences  of  the  architectural 
grandeur  of  the  remains  of  the  long-lost  city  aston- 
ished Europe  almost  as  much  as  she  was  startled 
when  Botta  and  Layard  unearthed  Nineveh. 

Owing  to  the  isolated  situation  of  these  ruins,  ly- 
ing in  the  midst  of  the  Syrian  desert,  entirely  out  of 
the  line  of  modern  caravan  routes,  they  have  been 
seldom  visited  by  travelers.  The  exorbitant  black- 
mail exacted  by  the  Bedawin  has  also,  till  quite  re- 
cently, been  a  serious  obstruction  to  such  an  under- 
taking. But  a  few  years  since  the  Turkish  govern- 
ment, finally  aroused  to  a  sense  of  the  strategic  im- 
portance of  the  control  of  the  springs  of  Palmyra 
in  dealing  with  the  Arab  tribes  dependent  upon 
those  fountains,  established  a  garrison  there ;  so  now 
the  ruins  may  be  visited,  from  Damascus,  under  the 
protection  of  a  Turkish  escort. 

We  mention  Damascus,  because  that  is  the  proper 
starting-point  for  a  Palmyrian  excursion.  Our  tour 
through  Palestine  and  Central  Syria  left  us  at  that 
city  Christmas  -  day ;  and  as  it  was  already  late  in 
the  season  for  a  desert  journey,  we  immediately  ini- 
tiated arrangements  for  the  trip.  Our  dragoman  did 
not  share  our  enthusiasm  for  a  journey  into  the  mid- 
dle of  the  Syrian  desert,  and  this  for  a  while  impeded 
matters.  Nothinc:  was  obtainable :  horses  could  not 
be  found,  nor  an  escort  secured ;  the  pasha  would 
not  grant  us  a  firman,  for  the  desert  xArabs  had  be- 


THE   RUINS   OF   PALMYRA.  25 

come  suddenly  and  desperately  hostile.  He  spoke 
often  of  the  dangers  he  would  be  personally  incur- 
ring :  he  might  be  killed  by  the  wild  Bedawin ;  in- 
deed, he  probably  would  be.  Of  course,  he  could 
not  think  of  runninsj  such  hazards  without  a  valua- 
ble  consideration.  A  judicious  hachshish — that  per- 
fect panacea  for  all  the  curious  ills  a  dragoman  is 
heir  to — allayed  all  his  fears.  Then  horses  were  ob- 
tainable without  difficulty,  though  the  day  before 
there  w^as  not  one  in  Damascus.  It  was  now  alike 
the  duty  and  pleasure  of  the  pasha  to  grant  us  fir- 
mans to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  Turkish  domin- 
ions ;  and,  as  to  an  escort,  our  order  from  the  pasha 
would  enable  us  to  command  soldiers  enough  to  ex- 
tirpate all  the  wild  Arabs  in  the  Syrian  desert. 
Thus  all  the  preliminaries  to  our  journey  were  quick- 
ly completed. 

Upon  the  afternoon  of  the  very  day  that  the  Haj, 
the  pilgrim  caravan  to  Mecca,  departed  in  great  state 
from  Damascus  on  their  long  pilgrimage,  we  left  the 
city,  and  commenced  our  longer  journey  across  the 
continent.  Our  escort  consisted  of  four  Turkish 
horsemen.  This  guard  was  to  be  strengthened  from 
different  posts  as  vs^e  advanced  into  the  desert.  Is- 
suing from  "  Thomas  Gate,"  we  rode  for  several  miles 
through  the  pleasant  gardens  and  olive-groves  that 
reach  out  from  the  walls  of  Damascus  on  the  north. 
It  is  a  beautiful  oasis,  in  the  midst  of  which  the  queen 


26  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

city  of  the  East  is  seated.  The  rivers  Abana  and 
Pharpar,  escaping  from  the  wild  glens  of  Anti-Leb- 
anon, pour  into  the  Syrian  desert  as  in  an  ocean — 
first  radiating  through  a  hundred  irrigauts,  and 
spreading  out  a  great  delta  of  vegetation ;  and  then 
lose  their  waters  in  the  sea  of  sand  that  stretches 
eastward  to  the  hoiizon. 

For  three  days  we  journeyed  north,  along  the  great 
caravan  route  between  Damascus  and  Aleppo,  which 
runs  close  to  the  foot  of  Anti-Lebanon,  leading,  at 
times,  over  the  spurs  that  shoot  out  from  the  main 
range,  and  across  the  bleak  plateaux  and  cultivated 
plains  lying  between,  and  opening  out  eastward  upon 
the  desert.  The  third  evening  brought  us  to  Hasya, 
where  the  plateau  -we  had  been  traversing  broke 
dow^n  into  a  rocky  plain  even  less  cultivated,  but 
which  was  assuming  quite  a  fresh  look  under  the 
winter  rains,  and  was  covered  with  the  black  tents 
and  flocks  of  the  Bedawin.  We  found  Hasya  a  dirty 
Arab  village,  a  perfect  mud -heap,  upon  which  the 
rains  had  been  pouring  till  the  whole  seemed  ready 
to  run  down  into  the  plain. 

Here  we  changed  our  escort  for  five  Bedawin,  per- 
fect sons  of  the  desert.  The  trappings  of  their  horses 
produced  quite  an  imposing  appearance  at  a  distance ; 
but  on  a  nearer  approach  the  tattered  blankets  and 
crazy  tassels  inspired  but  little  admiration.  Their 
armament  consisted   of  swords,  pistols,  long  match- 


THE  Rums  OF  pal:myra.  27 

locks,  and  tufted  spears,  all  of  which  made  a  clatter- 
ing tumult  as  they  ecgaged  in  frequent  tournaments 
for  our  diversion. 

Departing  from  Hasya,  we  abandoned  the  caravan 
route  we  had  been  following,  and  struck  eastward, 
directly  into  the  desert,  and  after  a  long  day's  ride 
reached  Kuryetein,  a  large  Arab  village,  standing  in 
the  midst  of  a  little  oasis  created  by  several  large 
fountains.  From  the  Turkish  garrison  stationed  here 
we  strengthened  our  guard  by  an  addition  of  ten  sol- 
diers, mounted  on  mules ;  and  the  morning  following 
our  arrival  resumed  our  march,  avec  grande  ]}arade. 
As  no  springs  occur  between  Kuryetein  and  Palmyra, 
our  train  was  further  increased  bj  several  animals, 
loaded  with  goat-skins  filled  with  water.  But  these 
proved  quite  unnecessary,  for  we  made  the  greater 
part  of  the  distance  in  a  pouring  rain,  which  com- 
pletely flooded  the  desert ;  and  on  the  second  day  we 
emptied  the  skins  to  help  swell  the  miniature  lakes 
through  which  our  water-carriers  were  floundering. 

A  few  hours  from  Kuryetein,  the  monotony  of  our 
journey  was  broken  by  the  appearance  of  a  party  of 
Bedawin.  Immediately  our  whole  cavalcade  was 
thrown  into  a  fever  of  excitement.  Our  Bedawin  al- 
lies, striking  their  shovel  stirrups  into  their  horses' 
sides,  flourished  their  flint-locks,  shook  their  tufted 
spears,  and  dashed  and  whirled  hither  and  thither 
with  wild  shouts,  till  every  thing  ^seemed  to  be  sj)in- 

C 


28  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

ning  round  and  round.  Our  Turks  meanwhile  slip- 
ped from  their  mules,  which  they  had  wit  enough  to 
know  were  not  just  the  animals  upon  which  to  ride 
to  battle.  Standius:  in  the  midst  of  the  whirl  of  ex- 
citement,  in  stupid  unconsciousness  of  any  thing  un- 
usual, those  mules  did  not  seem  exactly  intended  for 
engaging  in  a  cavalry  fight  with  those  wdld  desert 
cavaliers,  whose  steeds  Avere  snuffing  the  battle  afar 
off.  The  affair  ended  in  our  Turks  firing  a  few  shots, 
and  in  our  Bedawin  pursuing  the  vanishing  enemy, 
at  a  prudent  distance,  for  several  miles  over  the 
plain. 

With  our  order  of  march  resumed,  we  advanced  as 
before,  only  with  greater  caution,  our  Arabs  scouring 
out  to  the  right  and  left,  and  ascending  every  little 
rise — for  the  desert  was  somewhat  undulating — that 
might  conceal  an  enemy.  Issuing  in  a  few  hours 
upon  a  perfectly  level  plain,  this  precaution  became 
unnecessary ;  and  our  company  straggled  along  with- 
out order  the  remainder  of  the  day  over  the  monoto- 
nous desert. 

There  is  not,  as  might  be  supposed,  any  drifting 
sand  between  Damascus  and  Tadmor.  The  soil  is 
for  the  most  part  firm  and  gravelly,  so  that  a  carriage 
might  be  driven  over  it  in  any  direction.  The  plain 
is  generally  covered  Avith  camel's  thorn,  a  low  shrub 
about  one  foot  in  height.  Immediately  about  Tad- 
mor the  country  assumes  more  the  aspect  of  the  Lyb- 


THE   RUINS   OF  PALMYRA.  29 

ian  desert,  and  the  winds  sweep  the  sands  in  huge 
drifts. 

Just  at  nightfall  we  halted,  made  a  cup  of  coffee 
over  a  fire  of  camel's  thorn,  and  then,  as  it  was  rain- 
ing, and  our  soldiers  w^ere  unprovided  wdth  tents,  we 
remounted,  and  rode  all  night  through  a  severe  storm, 
which  at  times  swept  the  desert  with  snow  and  hail. 
In  the  gray  light  of  the  morning  we  discovered  the 
tower-tombs  of  Palmyra,  standing  like  spectres  in  the 
pass  that  led  through  the  low  range  of  verdureless 
hills  which  lay  across  our  trail.  We  reached  the 
summit  of  the  pass,  and  the  wonderful  ruins  were  all 
before  us,  lying  on  the  edge  of  the  plain,  which,  from 
the  foot  of  the  range  we  were  upon,  rolled  out  in  un- 
broken desolation  to  the  eastern  horizon.  Baalbec 
dwindled  into  insignificance.  One  pile  alone,  the 
ruined  Temple  of  the  Sun,  w^hich  rose  up  grandly 
from  the  most  distant  part  of  the  city,  but  which  the 
eye  did  not  reach  till  it  had  wandered  over  a  long 
mile  of  fallen  mausoleums  and  temples,  swept  down 
through  grand  avenues  flanked  with  columns,  amid 
triumphal  arches,  clustered  pillars,  and  monumental 
shafts — that  grand  pile  alone,  that  at  last  arrested 
the  eye  at  the  end  of  the  pillared  vista  of  the  great 
colonnade,  rivaled  in  beauty  and  impressiveness  all 
the  combined  ruins  of  the  famous  Syrian  City  of  the 
Sun. 

Descending  from  the  pass,  we  wound  through  the 


30  REMAINS    OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

ruins  to  the  gate  of  the  temple  court.  The  inclosure 
was  crowded  with  the  miserable  mud  hovels  of  Arabs 
and  Turkish  soldiers.  We  w^ere  escorted  through 
the  irregular  sti'eets  to  the  residence  of  the  officer  of 
the  post.  It  was  a  little  mud  hut,  twelve  by  eight- 
een feet,  stuck  against  the  very  walls  of  the  shrine, 
with  two  of  the  lofty,  beautifully  fluted  pillars  of 
the  temple,  which  were  built  into  the  w^alls  of  the 
hovel,  projecting  thirty  feet  or  more  above  the  roof 
Here  we  were  kindly  but  curiously  entertained 
during  the  several  days  spent  in  exploring  the 
ruins. 

Palmyra  was  a  strongly  fortified  city,  the  strength 
of  its  walls  enabling  it  to  maintain,  as  Ave  have  seen, 
a  stubborn  resistance  against  the  arms  of  Home. 
The  most  ancient  ramparts  have  been  almost  entirely 
swept  away;  just  sufficient  traces  remaining  to  en- 
able us  to  determine  the  line  of  the  old  defenses,  and 
ascertain  that  the  enceinte  was  between  three  and 
four  miles  in  circumference.  The  later  wall,  con- 
structed by  the  Emperor  Justinian,  has  in  some 
places  entirely  disappeared ;  but  on  the  north  and 
west  its  course  is  indicated  by  long  lines  of  ruins, 
and  at  some  points  twenty  or  thirty  feet  of  the  orig- 
inal height  still  remain  unimpaired. 

Not  only  is  the  space  inclosed  by  these  ftillen 
walls  covered  in  almost  every  })art  with  ruins,  but 
mounds,  foundations,  and  various  remains  of  build- 


THE   RUINS   OF   PALMYRA.  31 

ings  lie  outside  this  ancient  rampart,  slio^ving  that 
during  the  height  of  its  prosperity  tSe  city  must 
have  overflowed  these  limits.  The  ancient  walls 
embraced  a  little  spur  of  the  limestone  ridge  upon 
the  west ;  the  slope  of  this  hill,  affording  a  fine  survey 
of  "the  city,  was  chosen  as  the  site  of  some  of  the 
noblest  structures  of  the  capital.  It  is  at  this  point 
that  we  will  commence  our  examination  of  the  fa- 
mous Palmyrian  ruins. 

Prominent  among  the  confused  heap  of  ruined 
buildings  lying  upon  this  slope  are  the  remains  of 
what  Avas  doubtless  a  mausoleum.  Its  elevation 
must  have  rendered  it  a  conspicuous  object  from  ev- 
ery point  of  the  city;  and  its  I'uins  testify  that  it 
-was  not  an  unworthy  monument  to  thus  boldly 
challenge  attention,  and  front  the  splendid  building 
of  the  Temple  of  the  Sun,  which  rose  from  the  plain 
at  the  opposite  extremity  of  the  city.  From  the 
sloping  nature  of  the  ground,  the  building  neces- 
sarily rested  upon  an  artificial  platform,  and  had  a 
magnificent  approach  of  stone  steps.  These  are  now 
almost  buried  beneath  the  rubbish  of  the  ruined 
structure.  The  monolithic  columns  that  formed  the 
portico  are  still  standing,  but  the  greater  part  of 
the  walls  have  fallen.  Immense  blocks,  delicately 
carved,  lie  heaped  about  in  utter  confusion.  From 
a  half  effaced  Latin  inscription  on  the  fallen  entabla- 
ture, we  were  able  to  decipher  the  names  of  Dio- 


32  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

cletian,  Maximianus,  and  Constantius.  As  the  last 
was  not  appointed  assistant  Caesar  by  Diocletian  till 
A.D.  292,  the  building  must  have  been  erected  subse- 
quent to  that  date. 

At  a  little  distance  from  these  remains  lie  the 
ruins  of  another  mao-nificent  mausolean  structure. 
It  af)pears,  from  the  notice  of  certain  travelers,  to 
have  been  in  a  good  state  of  preservation  only  a  few 
years  since ;  but  now  all  is  thrown  down  save  the 
six  monolithic  columns  of  the  portico,  which  still 
bear  aloft  a  broken  pediment.  We  are  lost  in  ad- 
miration of  the,  beauty,  richness,  and  grandeur  of 
the  monumental  structure,  as  we  scramble  up  and 
over  the  immense  pile  of  sculptured  blocks  to  an- 
other mausoleum,  of  which  nothing  remains  standing 
save  two  time-eaten  pillars,  that  seem  almost  ready 
to  topple  :0ver.  Here,  scattered  about  the  foot  of 
the  slope,  lie  vast  heaps  of  carved  blocks;  huge 
fragments  of  richly  sculptured  entablature,  bearing- 
Greek  and  Palmyrian  inscriptions ;  recumbent  fig- 
ures, draped  in  flowing  robes ;  drums  and  shafts  of 
pillars;  rich  Corinthian  capitals;  and,  rising  from 
amid  this  confusion  of  ruins,  now  and  then  a  solitary 
column  or  cluster  of  pillars,  which  the  shock  of  the 
earthquake  has  spared  to  mark  the  site  of  some 
temple  or  mausoleum. 

Commencing  near  the  foot  of  the  slope  where  lie 
these  ruined  edifices,  and  running  eastward  through 


THE  RXnNS   OF   PALMYRA.  33 

the  ruins,  are  the  broken  lines  of  columns  that  mark 
the  course  of  the  Grand  Colonnade,  Palmyra's  pride 
and  glory  in  her  golden  days,  and  the  most  i^romi- 
nent  feature  of  her  magnificent  remains.     This  grand 
pillared  avenue  swept  nearly  the  entire  length  of  the 
city,  from  the  hill  to  the  gateway  of  the  Temple  of  the 
Sun — a  distance  of  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile. 
The  pillars,  composed  of  white  limestone,  resembling 
marble  in  hardness  and  susceptibility  of  polish,  were 
of  the  Corinthian  order,  about  three  feet  in  diameter, 
and,  including  base  and  capital,  nearly  sixty  feet  in 
height.     They  supported  a  heavy  but  graceful  en- 
tablature.     The   width    of  this   superb    street   was 
thirty  feet.     The  plan  of  the  architect  was,  doubt- 
less, as  indicated  by  the  triple  gateway  wbich  stands 
at  the  eastern  terminus  of  the  colonnade,  to  flank 
the  central  street  with  two  side  avenues,  thus  neces- 
sitating four  rows  of  columns ;  but  it  is  not  probable 
that  more  than  the  two  central  lines  of  pillars  ^vere 
ever  completed,  as  no  indications  of  outer  ones  can 
be  discovered.     Of  the  1080  columns  which  we  es- 
timated to  have  once  flanked  the  grand  avenue,  we 
found  only   112    still  standing.     These  are   so  dis- 
posed along  the  line  of  the  colonnade  that  one  is  al- 
most sure  to  misjudge  of  their  number,  and  would 
not  suppose  that  more  than  half  of  the  columns  were 
thrown  down.     As  the  eye  sweeps  in  long  perspec- 
tive down  through  the  grand  vista  of  trunks  and 


34  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

frondecl  capitals,  it  is  almost  deceived  into  the  belief 
tliat  it  is  threading  an  avenue  of  lofty  palms. 

There  were  only  two  other  cities  of  the  ancient 
world  that  were  graced  with  colonnades  which  conld 
bear  comparison  with  the  pillared  avenue  of  Palmy- 
ra. These  w^ere  Apamea,  on  the  Orontes,  of  which 
we  shall  speak  in  another  chapter,  and  Samaria,  in 
Palestine.  Many  of  the  columns  that  composed  the 
colonnade  of  the  latter  city  may  still  be  seen  circling 
the  crown  of  the  hill  on  which  the  capital  of  Israel 
stood. 

It  is  a  privileged  walk  to  saunter  down  through 
the  colonnaded  avenue  of  Palmyra.  The  prostrate 
columns  have  fallen  singly  or  in  groups,  sometimes 
in  the  street  and  sometimes  outward,  as  though  the 
waves  of  an  earthquake  had  rolled  beneath  the  en- 
tire length  of  the  portico  and  determined  their  fall. 
Near  the  middle  of  the  avenue  the  direction  of  the 
colonnade  changes  a  trifle,  and  at  this  point  it  was 
intersected  by  a  cross- street;  on  the  south  a  long 
line  of  columns  still  marks  the  direction  of  this 
street,  and  also  preserves  the  site  of  an  ancient  forum. 

On  each  of  the  four  corners  formed  by  this  inter- 
section stood  a  large  altar;  only  one  of  these  now 
rests  upon  its  pedestal,  the  others  having  been 
thrown  down.  The  ground  is  here  strewn  with  im- 
mense blocks,  broken  from  the  altars,  and  with  the 
huge  beams  of  stone  that  comj^osed  the  entablature 
of  the  colonnade. 


THE  RUINS   OF  PALMYRA.  35 

Scattered  aloiio;  on  either  side  of  the  avenue  are 
ruins  of  edifices,  the  nature  of  Avhich  the  confused 
remains  -will  scarcely  reveal.  North  of  the  colon- 
nade, however,  there  are  t\vo  structures  unmistaka- 
bly temples,  which  attract  special  attention :  one  is 
a  beautiful  peristyle,  with  eleven  columns  still  re- 
maining; the  other  is  almost  as  well  preserved  as 
the  Temple  of  Theseus  at  Athens :  the  cella  walls  are 
ornamented  with  pilasters,  and  a  pretty  portico  of 
six  columns  fronts  the  buildinoj.  Near  these  are 
many  foundations,  showing  the  number  of  substan- 
tial buildings  this  portion  of  the  city  must  have  con- 
tained. Palmyra,  in  this  respect,  was  very  different 
from  Athens,  w^here  the  public  buildings,  though  so 
grand  and  faultless,  were  comparatively  few,  while 
the  larger  portion  of  the  city  was  so  poorly  built 
that  no  trace  of  it  has  survived  the  wear  of  time. 
But  at  Palmyra,  every  portion  of  the  enceinte  was  so 
crowded  with  structures  of  substantial  and  even 
massive  construction,  that  now  almost  every  sj^ot  is 
encumbered  with  ruins. 

From  our  examination  of  these  ruined  buildings, 
we  return  to  the  colonnade,  and  continue  our  walk 
through  the  stately  avenue — stately  now,  for  at  the 
point  where  we  re-enter  it  most  of  the  columns  are 
still  erect.  On  one  side  forty-nine  pillars,  standing 
without  a  break,  bear  up  loftily  the  massive  entabla- 
ture, which  looks  so  light  and  airy  in  its  aerial  poise 


3g  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

that  it  is  difficult  for  us  to  believe  that  it  is  composed 
of  just  such  immense  beams  of  stone  as  those  that  lie 
at  our  feet.  A  profusely  ornamented  triumphal  arch, 
forming  a  triple  gateway,  stands  at  the  present  ter- 
minus of  the  colonnade.  The  key-stone  of  the  cen- 
tral arch  has  almost  slipped  out,  and  seems  ready  to 
guillotine  the  first  victim  that  steps  beneath  it;  an- 
other shock  of  the  earthquake  will  tumble  into  ruins 
this  beautiful  architectural  monument. 

A  few  hundred  yards  distant  from  this  triumphal 
arch  rise  the  great  wa^lls  of  the  court  of  the  Temple 
of  the  Sun.  They  are  about  70  feet  in  height,  and 
constitute  a  square  of  740  feet.  The  lower  portion 
of  the  wall  has  a  perpendicular  front ;  but  the  upper 
half  slopes  inward,  and  is  ornamented  with  Corin- 
thian pilasters,  between  which  are  blind  windows, 
embellished  with  mouldings  and  pediments.  The 
whole  is  surmounted  witli  architrave,  fineze,  and  cor- 
nice, thus  presenting  a  rich  and  imposing  appearance 
from  every  side,  and  constituting  a  worthy  inclosure 
to  one  of  the  most  beautiful  shrines  of  the  heathen 
world.  The  once  magnificent  triple  gateway,  which 
pierced  the  western  wall  of  the  court,  has  been  al- 
most completely  buried  beneath  rude  Saracenic  ma- 
sonry. The  side  passages  have  been  blocked  up  en- 
tirely, and  the  spacious  central  entrance  almost  filled 
— just  sufficient  space  being  left  for  a  l>urdened  beast 
to  pass.     The  enormous,  richly  traced  blocks  which 


THE   RUINS   OF   PALMYRA.  37 

once  formed  the  lintel  have  fallen,  and  now  partially 
obstruct  the  passage-way.  The  jambs  of  this  once 
magnificent  portal  are  huge  monolithic  blocks,  thirty- 
two  feet  in  height,  beautifully  sculptured  with  grace- 
ful desio-ns. 

Around  the  court  within  ran  a  double-pillared 
portico,  each  stately  column  being  furnished  with  a 
bracket  for  a  statue.  Ninety  of  these  pillars  are 
still  erect.  Near  the  centre  of  the  court  stands  the 
noble  peristyle  temple,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  rel- 
ics of  Grecian  architecture.  In  the  richness  and  pro- 
fuseness  of  its  ornamentation,  it  rivals  the  Tem23le  of 
the  Sun  at  Baalbec;  and  the  Parthenon  at  Athens, 
though  inimitable  in  its  faultless  proportions  and 
stern  chasteness,  can  show  nothing  of  that  reckless 
prodigality  of  embellishment  that  characterizes  this 
Palmyrian  temple.  It  exhibits  just  that  freedom 
and  luxuriance  that  we  might  imagine  the  arts  of 
the  West  would  display  on  Eastern  soil. 

The  peristyle  of  the  temple  consists  of  fluted  Co- 
rinthian columns,  sixty-four  feet  in  height.  They  are 
surmounted  by  a  rich  entablature,  with  frieze  em- 
bossed with  cupids  bearing  garlands  and  festoons. 
Upon  the  west,  facing  the  grand  entrance  to  the 
court,  is  a  beautiful  doorway,  set  between  two  of  the 
columns  of  the  peristyle,  and  profusely  engraved  with 
beautiful  clusters  of  flowers  and  fruit  and  foliage. 
One  of  the  two  heavy  beams  that  formed  the  lintel 


38  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

has  fallen,  and  blocks  the  passage.  The  walls  of  the 
cella  are  embellished  with  pilasters  and  blind  win- 
dows. The  western  side  is  pierced  by  a  doorway," 
placed  exactly  opposite  to  the  one  already  described. 
The  jambs  of  this  door  are  monolithic,  and  the 
mouldiuo:  is  enchased  with  a  delicate  vine,  most 
gracefully  and  artistically  wrought. 

The  interior  of  the  temple  shows  sadly  the  hand 
of  violence.  The  fanatical,  iconoclastic  Moslem  seems 
to  imagine  that  he  is  never  doing  heaven  better  serv- 
ice than  when  engaged  in  breaking  to  pieces  or  de- 
facing the  beautiful  creations  of  antiquity.  The  tem- 
ple has  been  further  marred  by  having  been  used  as 
a  mosque — mud  and  plaster  hide  much  of  the  former 
beauty  of  the  shrine.  The  large  central  apartment 
is  now  roofed  with  a  rude  covering  of  branches,  over- 
laid with  earth,  and  is  used  for  a  stable.  At  the 
southern  end  of  this  main  room  a  door  admits  to  a 
smaller  chamber,  sixteen  feet  in  length  and  ten  in 
width,  roofed  in  with  a  single  massive  block,  most 
elegantly  carved.  At  the  opposite  end  of  the  build- 
ino-  is  another  similar  chamber,  of  somewhat  smaller 
dimensions.  On  the  soffit  of  tlie  entrance  door  is  an 
eagle,  with  spread  wings.  The  roof  of  this  room  is  a 
monolith,  cut  in  the  form  of  a  dome ;  zodiacal  sym- 
bols encompass  it,  and  figures  of  various  deities  arc 
sculptured  on  the  vaulted  surface.  A  stone  stairway 
leads  to  tlie  roof  of  tlie  temple,  the  view  from  which 


THE   RUINS  OF   PALMYRA. 


39 


is  most  impressive.  One  is  struck  with  the  massive 
structure  of  the  gate,  set  in  the  peristyle,  with  its 
monolithic  pediment  or  delta.  On  the  east  side  of 
the  temple  eight  of  the  columns  of  the  peristyle  are 
still  surmounted  by  the  unimpaired  entablature; 
the  bronze  capitals  that  once  graced  the  pillars  have 
long  since  disappeared.  The  entire  courtyard  is 
crowded  with  the  mud  hovels  of  the  Bedawin,  which 
cling  to  the  very  walls  of  the  shrine  itself,  the  col- 
umns projecting  disdainfully '  above  the  mud  walls 
into  which  they  have  been  built.  At  evening  the 
sun  avenges  itself  for  having  to  look  through  all  the 
day  upon  such  an  incongruous  mingling  of  beauty 
and  repulsiveness,  by  throwing  the  mud  huts  into 
the  dark  shadow  of  the  high  western  wall  of  the 
court,  and  then  gilding  with  its  slant  rays  each  lofty 
pillar  of  the  shrine. 

The  tower -tombs  of  Pal- 
myra, which  stand  among  the 
hills  back  of  the  city,  are  pe- 
culiar and  interesting;  such 
lofty,  storied  structures  are 
suggestive  of  any  thing  but 
a  tomb;  they  are  certainly 
the  most  unique  sepulchral 
edifices  in  the  world.  These 
towers  are  thirty  or  forty  feet 
square,   and    from    sixty    to 


PALMYEIAN    TOWER-TOMB. 


40  EEMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

eighty  feet  liigb,  according  as  they  embrace  three  or 
four  stories.  They  are  constructed  of  roughly  hewn 
stones,  and  are  infinitely  inferior  in  artistic  merit  to 
the  other  monuments  of  the  city.  These  curious  se- 
pulchral structures  are  doubtless  of  Palmyrian  ori- 
gin ;  though  many  of  those  now  standing  must  have 
been  erected  subsequent  to  the  era  of  the  Seleucidse, 
as  is  evidenced  by  the  Greek  inscriptions  they  ex- 
hibit, and  also  by  their  ornamentation,  which  is  large- 
ly Grecian. 

A  short  description  of  the  one  here  represented 
will  give  a  correct  idea  of  all.  A  small  doorway  af 
fords  entrance  to  the  lower  chamber,  which  is  thirty 
feet  in  leng-th  and  ten  in  width,  and  ornamented  with 
four  Corinthian  pilasters  on  each  side,  and  two  at 
the  end  opposite  the  entrance.  The  ceiling  is  com- 
posed of  immense  stone  beams,  reaching  from  side  to 
side,  and  is  finely  fretted  and  sculptured,  some  of  the 
figures  being  thrown  into  more  prominent  relief  by 
the  sky-blue  color  given  to  the  background.  Between 
the  pilasters,  on  either  side,  are  tiers  of  loculi,  for  the 
reception  of  bodies.  A  ruinous  stone  stairway  leads 
to  the  second  story,  which  resembles  the  lower 
chamber,  save  in  being  somewhat  smaller — from  the 
contraction  of  the  tower — and  in  being  less  carefully 
ornamented.  The  third  and  fourth  stories  aflford  no 
new  feature ;  the  latter  is  almost  barren  of  orna- 
mentation. The  lowei'  chambers  were  evidently  the 
aristoci'atic  ones. 


THE  RUINS   OF  PALMYRA.  41 

Both  north  and  south  of  the  city,  just  at  the  foot 
of  the  hills,  the  desert  is  broken  by  numerous  undu- 
lations, which  mark  the  site  of  subterranean  tombs 
of  a  more  ordinary  character  than  the  sepulchral 
towers  we  have  just  examined.  Some  of  these  tombs 
have  been  excavated,  and  found  to  contain  both  Pal- 
my rian  and  Grecian  sculpture — enough  to  show  that 
more  systematic  and  thorough  excavations  would  un- 
earth many  interesting  memorials  of  the  desert  city. 

Perched  upon  the  highest  point  of  the  hills  which 
overhang  the  ruined  city  is  an  old  castle  of  Saracenic 
architecture.  The  date  ot  its  origin  is  unknown ;  yet 
it  can  not  claim  a  higher  antiquity  than  the  fifteenth 
or  sixteenth  century.  As.  it  is  encompassed  by  a 
very  deep  moat,  cut  in  the  limestone  rock,  access  to 
it  is  extremely  difiicult ;  but  the  view  from  its  walls 
is  such  as  to  justify  all  the  reckless  climbing  neces- 
sary to  gain  the  summit.  The  "  city  of  palms  "  lies 
directly  beneath  the  eye.  The  palms  are  now  all 
gone,  save  just  a  few  near  the  fountain ;  but  in  their 
stead  hundreds  of  airy  pillars  rise,  like  the  pride  of 
the  desert,  all  over  the  ancient  site.  Beyond  the 
wide,  bewildering  confusion  of  ruins  the  dreary  des- 
ert rolls  out  its  desolate  reaches  till  the  sky  in  pity 
drops  down  upon  it. 

We  view  some  scenes,  and  after  a  little  while  find 
ourselves  unable  to  recall  an}^  definite  picture  of 
them.     Again,  other  scenes  imprint  themselves  indel- 


42  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EI^IPIRES. 

ibly  on  the  memory.  Athens,  with  the  Acropolis 
crowned  by  the  Parthenon,  once  seen,  leaves  a  clear- 
ly traced  and  permanent  impression  on  the  recollec- 
tion. And  thus  it  is  w^ith  the  ruins  of  Palmyra.  So 
widely  different  from  other  remains,  and  so  intensely 
individual  are  they,  that  no  one  who  has  once  looked 
upon  the  ruined  "city  in  the  wilderness"  will  ever 
have  the  picture  erased  from  memory.  The  grand 
colonnade,  half  prostrate ;  the  vast  number  of  pillars, 
solitary  and  grouped ;  the  tall  monumental  columns, 
tottering  with  age ;  the  confused  heaj^s  of  fallen  por- 
ticoes, temples,  and  mausoleums;  the  lofty  tower- 
tombs,  the  solemn  sentinels  of  the  scene  of  death ; 
and,  surpassing  all,  the  imposing  mass  of  the  once  re- 
splendent temple  of  the  god  of  light,  a  shrine  still 
gloriously  beautiful  in  its  ruins  —  these,  with  the 
wide  Avaste  of  the  desert  around,  form  one  of  the  j 
most  impressive  scenes  of  complete  and  mournful 
desolation  that  the  world  affords. 

From  the  castle  walls  we  can  just  distinguish  the 
form  of  the  Arabs,  as  they  crawl  in  and  out  of  the  ] 
gate  of  the  temple  court.  Alas,  the  change !  Once 
through  that  same  gateway,  after  sweeping  down 
that  grand  colonnade,  and  beneath  that  distant 
triumphal  arch,  entered,  with  pomp  of  pageantry  and 
clash  of  cymbals,  many  a  gorgeous  procession  in 
honor  of  the  "  god  of  day."  Throughout  the  ancient 
world  there  is  nothing  more  impressive  than  tliese 


THE  RUINS  OF  PALMYRA.  43 

desecrated  temples,  that  were  once  the   sacred  and 
crowded  shrines  of  a  nation's  worship. 

He  must  be  hoj^elessly  im23assible  who  could  sur- 
vey such  a  scene  as  that  presented  by  the  ruined 
city  in  the  desert  Avithout  having  feeling  enkindled 
or  imagination  awakened.  When  we  gaze  upon  the 
fair  form  deserted  by  life,  how  our  imagination  is 
borne  away  by  the  thronging  reminiscences  of  the 
departed  spirit  that  just  now  inspired  its  beauty  and 
gave  it  a  joyous  presence.  So  do  kindred  feelings 
take  possession  of  us  as  we  look  on  the  remains  of 
the  once  living  city,  through  whose  fallen  gates  all 
life  has  gone  out.  There  is  something  different  in 
such  a  solitude  from  that  of  lofty  mountains,  or  the 
eternally  uninhabited  desert.  The  silence  of  the 
fallen  city  is  the  silence  of  death.  We  know  that 
here  once  resounded  the  tides  of  restless  and  multi- 
tudinous life.  Very  different  is  it  to  muse  in  such  a 
place,  than  to  wander  on  mountains  lifted  till  they 
partake  of  the  silence  and  solitude  of  the  heavens ; 
or  over  desert  steppes  that  have  lain  forever  untrack- 
ed  by  man;  or  beneath  forests  which  have  never 
echoed  with  the  noise  of  busy  life.  The  thought  of 
change — of  past  life  and  present  death — is  what  ren- 
ders the  solitude  of  such  a  scene  so  mournful  and  im- 
pressive. The  sighing  of  the  sobbing  winds  amid 
the  pillars  of  the  desolate  city  thrills  us,  because  we 

know  it  is  the  requiem  of  death.  ^ 

D 


44  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 


CHAPTER  II. 

KUINED     CITIES     OF    NOETHERN     SYRIA. 

Departure  from  Palmyra. — Lost  on  the  Desert. — Aral)  Sagacity. — Vale 
of  Coele-Syria. — Ancient  Cities. — The  Pathway  of  Armies.  —  Arab 
Plowing.  —  Site  of  Arethusa.  —  Fields  of  Basalt. — Hamath.— rThe 
Hamath  Inscriptions. — Alone  on  the  Desert. — Ruins  of  Apamea. — 
Grand  Colonnade. — Condition  of  the  Ruins. — Valley  of  the  Oron- 
tes.  —  Ruined  City  of  El-Bara.  —  Palaces.  —  Tombs.  —  Other  Ruined 
Cities. — Cause  of  DeiDopulation. 

Just  at  the  close  of  the  last  day  spent  in  explor- 
ing the  ruins  of  Palmyra,  we  set  out,  with  our  guard, 
on  our  return  to  Kuryetein.  We  chose  the  evening 
for  our  departure,  because  the  journey  would  require 
us  to  be  in  the  saddle  about  twenty-four  hours,  and 
we  persuaded  ourselves  that  it  would  be  an  improve- 
ment of  the  plan  adopted  in  reaching  Palmyra,  if  we 
should  reverse  the  order  of  march,  and  take  the  noc- 
turnal I'ide  before  we  were  ftitigued  with  the  travel 
of  the  day.  Our  course  for  the  night  was  due  west. 
We  rode  rapidly  till  about  two  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, when,  through  a  break  in  the  clouds  that  partial- 
ly obscured  the  sky,  the  rising  moon  appeared  di- 
rectly ahead.  A  curious  aifair.  The  moon  rising  in 
the  west!     Our  chief,  at  once  appreciating  the  situa- 


RUINED    CITIES   OF   NORTHERN   SYRIA.  45 

tion,  ordered  a  halt.  There  was  faint  hope  that  the 
light  might  prove  a  Bedavvin  camp-fire ;  but  this  was 
quickly  dispelled,  as  iu  a  few  moments  the  crescent 
swung  up,  clear  and  beautiful,  above  the  horizon. 
Bewildered  as  we  were,  we  could  do  nothing  save 
dismount,  build  a  fire  vnth  the  dry  camel's  thorn,  and 
wait  for  the  day.  Morning  revealed  to  us  the  tower- 
tombs  of  Palmyra!  we  were  almost  back  to  the 
ruins,  having  spent  those  eight  mortal  hours  in  de- 
scribing a  great  circuit  on  the  desert. 

Several  such  experiences,  at  dififerent  times,  con- 
vinced us  that  the  Arab  possesses  but  little  of  the 
instinct  of  the  Indian  in  keeping  his  bearings.  If 
these  races  have  some  characteristics  in  common, 
they  have  also  some  points  of  dissidence,  and  this  is 
one  of  them.  On  one  occasion,  while  under  the  con- 
duct of  several  Bedawin,  we  left  our  station  about 
midnicrht.  The  villa2;e  was  situated  at  the  base  of 
an  isolated  hill,  about  a  mile  in  circumference,  and 
the  road  we  were  to  follow  skirted  the  base  of  the 
hill  a  short  distance,  and  then  struck  off  into  the 
plain.  Although  the  night  was  a  perfectly  clear, 
star-lit  one,  those  stupid  Arabs  led  us  completely 
around  that  hill,  and*  seemed  to  have  no  idea  that 
any  thing  was  wrong  till  the  dogs  came  flying  out  at 
us  as  we  rode  into  the  village  which  we  had  just 
left. 

The  rain  that  had  commenced  just  before  daylight 


40  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

was  falling  heavily  as,  with  some  discouragement,  we 
remounted  and  commenced  our  journey  anew.  We 
reached  Kuryetein  about  midnight,  fatigued  enough 
with  our  thirty  hours'  experience  upon  the  desert. 
Here  we  dismissed  a  portion  of  our  escort,  and  the 
following  day  the  remainder  conducted  us  to  Hasya; 
and  then,  as  we  were  again  on  the  caravan  route  be- 
tween Damascus  and  Aleppo,  we  thought  it  prudent 
to  dispense  with  the  service  of  all,  retaining  only  our 
dragjoman. 

From  Hasya  we  journeyed  northward  over  a  par- 
tially cultivated  plain,  with  the  snowy  ranges  of 
Anti-Lebanon  on  our  left,  and  the  open  desert  on  our 
right.  As  we  advanced,  Anti-Lebanon  sank  into 
the  plain,  and  admitted  us  from  the  desert  to  the  fa- 
mous valley  of  Coele-Syria.  Two  hours  before  we 
reached  Hums,  the  ancient  Emesa,  our  attention  was 
attracted  by  a  peculiar  truncated  hill  rising  out  of 
the  plain  far  to  tlie  north.  It  proved  to  be  the 
old  castle  mound  of  Emesa,  once  surmounted  with 
noble  buildings,  whose  ruinous  walls,  crowning  the 
hill,  give  it  a  most  picturesque  appearance.  The 
mound  is  about  one  hundred  feet  high,  and  appears 
to  be  entirely  of  artificial  construction ;  portions  of 
the  scarping  wall  are  still  visible.  A  wall  of  basalt 
surrounds  the  modern  town,  the  houses  of  which 
are  substantially  constructed  of  the  same  material.  \ 
The  present  population  of  Hums  is  about   20,000, 


RUINED   CITIES   OF  NORTHERN   SYRIA.  47 

two  thirds  of  which  number  are  Mohammedans,  and 
the  remainder  Christians. 

There  is  more  of  interest  in  Emesa's  past  than  in 
her  present.  Porter  thinks  it  may  be  identical  with 
the  Biblical  Zobah.  Accordins;  to  Gibbon,  it  was. 
during  the  second  and  third  centuries  of  our  era,  one 
of  the  most  important  cities  in  the  Asiatic  provinces 
of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  contained  a  famous  tem- 
ple dedicated  to  the  sun :  all  traces  of  this  edifice 
have  entirely  disappeared.  Emesa  was  the  home  of 
Elagabulus,  who  introduced  to  the  Roman  court  the 
effeminate  luxuriousness  of  the  East.  It  was  the 
native  city  of  the  philosopher  Longinus,  the  precep- 
tor of  Zeuobia ;  and  it  was  the  seat  of  the  Christian 
bishop  Silvanus.  But  while  the  outside  world  re- 
members just  a  little  about  the  folly  of  the  emperor, 
the  wisdom  of  the  philosopher,  and  the  purity  of  the 
bishop,  Emesa  has  forgotten  them  one  and  all,  as 
well  as  once  or  twice  forgetting  her  own  name. 

From  Hums  to  Hamath  is  one  day's  journey. 
The  morning  upon  which  we  departed  from  the  for- 
mer town  was  beautiful  and  spring-like,  though  it 
was  yet  early  in  January.  We  aj)preciated  and  en- 
joyed thoroughly  the  pleasantness  of  the  morning, 
for  the  tw^o  preceding  days  had  been  wet,  dismal, 
and  in  every  way  disagreeable. 

Nor  was  the  scenery  about  us  wanting  in  elements 
of  interest,  beauty,  and  even  grandeur.     The  snowy, 


^g  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

cloud-capped  peaks  of  Lebanon  rose  along  our  left; 
to  the  right  a  break  in  Anti-Lebanon  led  the  eye  out 
upon  the  desert ;  south,  the  vale  of  Coele-Syria  lay 
low  between  the  twin  ranges.  The  valley  or  plain 
of  Ccele-Syria  has  an  intense  historical  interest.  In 
general  terms,  the  vale  embraces  all  that  fertile,  well- 
watered  tract  lying  between  the  Libanus  and  the 
Anti-Libanus  (the  Lebanon  and  Anti-Lebanon  of 
Scripture).  The  latter,  toward  the  north,  losing  its 
continuity,  breaks  up  into  detached  ranges,  that  as- 
sume different  names.  The  classic  streams  of  the 
Leontes  (Litany)  and  Orontes,  taking  their  rise  from 
almost  the  same  fountains,  flow,  one  south  and  the 
other  north,  the  entire  length  of  the  vale,  and  then 
each  breaks  through  the  Lebanon  range  to  the  Med- 
iterranean. Within  this  magnificent  valley,  standing 
generally  upon  the  shores  of  these  rivers,  were  many 
of  the  most  celebrated  cities  of  antiquity:  Ba'albec, 
Zobah,  and  Hamath  of  Biblical  times;  Heliopolis, 
Eraesa,  Arethusa,  Epiphania,  Larissa,  and  Apamea,  of 
the  empires  of  the  Seleucidae  and  Komans.  Now 
Hums  and  Hamath  are  the  only  towns  w^orthy  of 
mention  in  this  region  once  so  rich  in  royal  cities. 
We  shall  see,  a  little  later,  all  that  some  of  these 
celebrated  cities  liave  left  to  mark  their  ancient 
sites. 

With  far  greater  reason  than  that  which  terms  the 
plain    of  Esdru'lon,  fiirther   south   in   Palestine,  the 


RUINED    CITIES   OF   NORTHERN   SYRIA.  49 

"  Battle-field  of  JSTations,"*  may  we  consider  this  the 
pathway  for  their  armies.  Through  this  narrow  vale 
has  often  ebbed  and  flowed  the  tide  of  conquest. 
"  It  furnishes  " — we  quote  Eawlinson — "  the  most 
convenient  line  of  2:)assage  between  Asia  and  Africa, 
alike  for  the  journeys  of  the  merchant  and  for  the 
march  of  armies.  Along  this  line  passed  Thothmes 
and  Raraeses,  Sargon  and  Sennacherib,  Neco  and  Ne- 
buchadnezzar, Alexander  and  his  warlike  successor, 
Pompey,  Antony,  Kaled,  Godfrey  of  Bouillon ;  along 
this  must  pass  every  great  army  which,  starting  from 
the  general  seats  of  power  in  Western  Asia,  seeks 
conquest  in  Africa,  or  which,  proceeding  from  Africa, 
aims  at  the  acquisition  of  an  Asiatic  dominion."  And 
along  this  line  pass  to-day,  by  the  Avay  of  Aleppo, 
the  caravans  that  journey  between  Damascus  and 
Bagdad :  the  perils  of  the  Syrian  desert  are  thus 
avoided.  And  the  same  reasons  that  lead  to  the 
adoption  of  this  circuitous  route  at  the  present  time 
determined  the  march  of  ancient  armies.  The  ene- 
mies of  Jerusalem — meaning  the  Babylonians — were 


*  Lieutenant  Condor,  in  a  recent  fugitive  article,  disputes  the  claim 
of  Esdrselon  to  being,  as  it  is  popularly  termed,  the  "  Battle-tield  of  Pal- 
estine," or  the  "  Battle-field  of  Nations.''  He  says :  "  The  history  of 
the  past  does  not,  however,  bear  out  this  assertion.  The  great  battles 
of  Joshua  were  fought  t:ir  to  the  south.  The  victories  of  David  were 
on  or  near  to  the  plains  of  Philistia.  The  invasions  of  the  Syrians  were 
directed  against  the  country  around  Samaria;  and  the  battle  of  Hattin, 
which  decided  the  fate  of  Christian  supremacy  in  Palestine,  was  fought 
out  farther  south.'' 


50  REMAINS   OF  LOST   EMPIRES. 

always  portrayed  in  propLecy  as  falling  upon  the 
city  from  the  north,  though  Babylon  was  really 
southward  of  Jerusalem :  "I  will  bring  evil  from  the 
7iortli,  and  a  great  destruction,"  were  always  the 
words  of  warning  to  Judah,  when  the  lion  of  Baby- 
lon and  the  destroyer  was  on  his  way.  When  at 
Palmyra,  we  were  but  three  days'  journey  from  the 
Euphrates ;  but,  unable  to  cross  the  remaining  inter- 
val of  desert  through  fear  of  the  lawless  Bedawin, 
we  were  obliged  to  return,  and  skirt  for  three  weeks 
the  western  edge  of  the  desert,  and  cross  the  river 
two  hundred  miles  farther  to  the  north. 

The  greater  portion  of  the  plain  between  Hums 
and  Hamath  is  under  cultivation ;  the  soil,  as  of  old, 
is  black  with  fertility.  The  plain,  as  we  crossed  it, 
was  swarming  with  natives,  preparing  the  ground  for 
the  spring  sowing.  The  furrows  made  by  the  rude 
plows  were  mere  scratches;  but  they  made  up  in 
straightness  what  they  lacked  in  depth.  We  often 
observed,  with  admiration,  furrows  upturned  of  a 
half  mile  in  length,  as  straight  as  though  drawn  with 
a  line.  The  primitive  plows  were  drawn  by  mules, 
horses,  jackasses,  bullocks,  and  heifers,  yoked  together 
in  every  conceivable  and  inconceivable  combination. 
The  ancient  Jews  seem  to  have  been  addicted  to  this 
same  thing,  for  we  hear  Moses  commanding,  "  Thou 
shalt  not  plow  with  an  ox  and  an  ass  together."* 


Dcut.  xxii.  10. 


RUINED   CITIES   OF   NORTHERN    SYRIA.  51 

Whether  this  prohibition  were  based  upon  sesthetical 
grounds,  or  grew  out  of  compassion  for  the  poor  ass, 
is  a  matter  of  indifference;  for  either  consideration 
would  abundantly  justify  such  legislation.  The  ap- 
pearance of  the  poor  little  donkey  pulling  with  a 
thick-necked  ox  is  perfectly  distracting  to  any  one 
more  sensitive  than  an  Arab.  Paul  had  in  mind 
perhaj)s  both  the  incongruity  and  disadvantage  of 
such  a  combination,  when  he  advises  thus :  "  Be  ye 
not  unequally  yoked  together  with  unbelievers." 

Four  hours  from  Hums  brouo-ht  us  to  Restan,  a 
small,  compact  Arab  town,  situated  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Orontes,  which  at  this  point  flows  through  a 
deep,  wild  gorge  from  two  hundred  to  three  hundred 
feet  in  depth,  cut  by  the  river  through  the  soft  hori- 
zontal limestone  strata.  Some  lines  of  ancient  foun- 
dations, with  a  few  sculptured  blocks  scattered  about, 
was  all  we  could  find  of  the  classic  Arethusa. 

Crossing  the  river  by  a  substantial  stone  bridge, 
we  climbed  the  steep  bank,  and  continued  our  jour- 
ney over  a  plain  thickly  strewn  with  basaltic  boul- 
ders, resting  on  a  limestone  formation.  One  of  the 
most  curious  geological  features  of  Northern  Syria 
and  Mesopotamia  is  these  fields  of  basaltic  rocks, 
whose  huge  fragments  lie  so  thickly  strewn  over  the 
surface  that  it  is  often  diflicult  for  an  animal  to  pick 
its  way  among  the  blocks.  Being  so  different  from 
the  rock  surface  on   which   they  rest,  one  wonders 


52  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

how  they  ever  came  there,  and  is  inclined  to  enter- 
tain with  more  respect  the  story  of  the  old  mythol- 
ogies, which  relates  how,  in  an  emergency,  the  gods, 
to  supply  weapons  to  certain  combatants,  rained 
down  stones.  One  journeying  through  Northern 
Syria,  and  seeing  these  fields  of  black  plutonic  rocks 
scattered  over  the  white  limestone  surface  and  cover- 
ing extended  areas,  might  be  pardoned  for  believing 
them  to  have  been  rained  on  the  earth.  Though 
they  were  not  thrown  down  from  the  heavens,  they 
were  tossed  up  from  the  lower  world;  and  perhaps 
that  is  quite  as  interesting.  All  these  extended  fields 
of  boulders  originated  from  eruptive  masses  of  trap- 
rock,  forced  up  through  profound  fissures,  extending 
through  the  limestone  strata  to  the  liquid  interior 
of  the  earth,  and  then  spread,  in  layers  of  varying 
thickness,  over  the  surface.  In  cooling,  the  eruptive 
material  assumed  that  prismatic  structure  peculiar  to 
certain  varieties  of  trap-rock — crystallized,  as  it  were; 
and  thus  the  whole  layer,  broken  by  joints,  would 
suffer  rapid  disintegration,  and  become  separated 
into  detached  fragments,  often  breaking  up  so  com- 
pletely into  boulder-like  masses  as  to  leave  no  clew 
to  the  mode  of  their  formation.  We  have  traversed 
extensive  fields  where  the  basaltic  stones  lay  scat- 
tered tlius  over  the  limestone  surface,  showing  that 
the  eruptive  mass  must  have  spread  over  the  ground 
with  a  thickness  not  exceeding  three  or  four  feet. 


RUINED   CITIES   OF   NORTHERN   SYRIA.  53 

At  other  times  tlie  erii2:)tive  material  seems  to  have 
been  thrown  up  in  a  much  less  perfect  state  of  fu- 
sion, as  is  witnessed  by  the  many  masses  of  basalt 
rising  abruptly  out  of  the  plain  to  a  height  of  a  hun- 
dred feet  or  more.  Some  of  these  hills  of  eruption 
present  a  columnar  structure,  similar  to  that  exhib- 
ited by  the  Giant's  Causeway  or  Fingal's  Cave. 
While  the  columnarity  of  the  masses  we  discovered 
was  somewhat  less  perfect  than  in  the  examples  cited, 
the  prisms  were  often  much  larger  than  any  in  the 
celebrated  causeway — cyclopean  prismatic  columns 
twenty  feet  in  diameter  frequently  occurring. 

The  view  afforded  us  from  the  summit  of  some  of 
these  elevations  was  often,  especially  upon  the  Meso- 
potamiau  plains,  peculiarly  striking.  The  extensive 
fields  of  basalt  lying  within  reach  of  the  vision  ap- 
peared like  black  spots  upon  the  plain,  or  wound 
over  the  surface  like  dark  streams  of  lava.  With 
the  eye  elevated  only  a  few  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  plain,  the  edge  of  one  of  these  basaltic  fields,  or 
streams,  appeared  as  a  low^,  black  line  running  over 
the  level  expanse  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see. 

Just  before  evening  we  reached  Hamah,  a  large 
town  with  a  population  of  thirty  thousand,  lying  in 
the  deep  gorge  of  the  Orontes,  and  so  concealed  that 
in  approaching  we  had  no  intimation  of  its  presence 
till  we  stood  on  the  brink  of  the  narrow  valley,  with 
the  minarets  and  huge  castle  mound  of  the  city  di- 


54  RE^IAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

rectly  beneath  us.  Hamali  is  quite  attractive  for  an 
Oriental  town;  its  situation  upon  the  river  is  invit- 
ing ;  and  then  it  has  pretty  gardens,  and  fine  bazaars 
stocked  with  all  the  commodities  of  the  East.  One 
of  the  curiosities  of  the  place  are  the  huge  water- 
wheels,  the  largest  of  which  are  sixty  or  seventy  feet 
in  diameter,  which,  driven  by  the  current  of  the 
river,  lift  the  water  used  in  irrigating  the  gardens, 
and  for  other  purposes. 

Hamah  is  the  Biblical  Hamath,  founded  by  the 
Hamathite,  the  great-grandson  of  Noah ;  and  thus 
it  can  lay  claim  to  almost  as  venerable  an  antiquity 
as  Damascus.  Ilamah  also  preserves  the  site  of  the 
Epiphania  of  the  Greeks ;  but  no  antiquities  of  that 
city  are  now  existing. 

The  expression  which  occurs  so  frequently  in  the 
Old  Testament — "  The  entrance  of  Hamath,"  or  "  the 
enterins:  in  of  Hamath" — did  not  have  reference  to 
this  city,  but  to  the  kingdom  of  Hamath.  This  "  en- 
trance" was  the  pass  over  the  low  hills  which,  just 
north  of  Baalbec,  form  a  "  screen "  across  the  plain 
of  Ccele-Syria  between  Lebanon  and  Anti-Lebanon, 
and  constitute  the  water-shed  of  the  Orontes  and 
Litany.  This  line  of  hills  marked  the  boundary  be- 
tween Palestine  and  the  kingdom  of  Hamath,  and 
thus  the  passage  came  to  be  termed  the  "entrance 
of  Hamath." 

The    stones   bearinij;    the   curious   and  interestinc; 


RUINED   CITIES   OF   NORTHERN   SYRIA.  55 

semi-liieroglyphic  writing  known  as  the  "  Hamatb 
Inscriptions,"  which  have  so  puzzled  antiquarians, 
were  found  in  this  city,  built  up  in  some  modern 
walls.  The  United  States  consul-general  at  Bey- 
rout  was  the  first  to  secure  copies  of  the  inscriptions. 
The  stones  are  now  in  the  Turkish  museum  at  Con- 
stantinople. But  many  excellent  squeezes  and  casts 
have  been  obtained,  and  fac-similes  of  the  writings 
have  been  published  by  several  societies.  What 
strange  secrets  these  rude  hieroglyphics  may  have 
locked  up  in  their  curious  forms  is  as  yet  entirely 
conjectural,  for  no  progress  has  been  made  in  their 
decipherment.  The  language  they  represent  ante- 
dated, it  is  thought  by  some  scholars,  the  Greek  or 
Phoenician,  and  was  perhaps  that  spoken  by  the  au- 
tochthones of  the  country — the  Rephaim  and  Zam- 
zummim  tribes,  which  were  dispossessed  by  the  Ca- 
naanites  long  before  they  were  themselves  driven  out 
by  the  Israelites.  Some  fragmentary  lines  of  a  sim- 
ilar hieroglyphic  writing  have  been  quite  recently 
discovered  at  Aleppo.  Perhaps  the  more  thorough 
methods  of  investigation  and  exploration  that  are 
being  instituted  will  result  in  the  discovery  of  a 
widespread  written  language  throughout  Northern 
Syria,  of  the  existence  of  which  we  have  as  yet  only 
these  two  iuterestins^  memorials.* 


*  For  full  description  of  the  Hamath  stones,  vide  Burton's  "  Unex- 
plored Syria,"  vol.  i.,  p.  333,  et  seq. 


56  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

Upon  leaving  Hamali  we  directed  our  guide  to 
conduct  us  to  Kul'at  el-Mudik,  the  present  represent- 
ative of  the  ancient  Apamea ;  but  as  these  ruins  lie 
off  from  the  direct  route  to  Aleppo,  he,  while  appar- 
ently acquiescing,  led  us  to  Sheihuu,  a  little  Hotten- 
tot-like villaoje  far  out  on  the  desert,  where  our  first 
night  from  Hamah  found  us,  a  long  distance  from 
the  classic  site.  The  following  morning,  having  dis- 
charged our  rascally  attendant,  we  set  out  alone  in 
search  of  Apamea.  Without  regard  to  any  trail,  we 
struck  across  the  plain  in  a  northwest  direction  to- 
ward the  Nusairiyeh  hills,  along  whose  base  we 
knew  the  Orontes  ran,  on  the  banks  of  which  stream 
the  ruins  lie.  We  rode  all  day  over  an  undulating 
plain,  dotted  here  and  there  with  the  flocks  and 
black  tents  of  the  Bedawin.  Only  a  small  portion 
of  the  plain  was  cultivated  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
little  villao^es  which  were  scattered  over  the  entire 
district.  AVe  passed  several  ancient  sites,  indicated 
as  such  by  numerous  sculptured  blocks,  fragments 
of  pillars,  portions  of  old  walls,  traces  of  foundations, 
and  scattered  statues,  carved  in  black  basalt.  We 
were  not  without  apprehensions  of  the  Bedawin ; 
foi-  tlie  tribes  of  that  section  bear  a  T)ad  reputation, 
and  w«'  imagined  that  those  we  met  looked  unusual- 
ly surly  and  desperate.  Not  till  near  sunset  did  we 
catch  sight  of  tlie  castle  walls  of  Kul'at  el-Mudik, 
postcil  ujxiii  one  of  tli(»st'  ])('culiai-  mounds  which  are 


Ilili 


RUINED   CITIES   OF  NORTHERN   SYRIA.  57 

SO  frequently  seen  throughout  Northern  Syria  and 
Mesopotamia.  Within  the  broken  wall  we  found 
huddled  together  a  few  mud-walled  hovels,  the  beg- 
garly representative  of  the  once  royal  Apamea. 

The  site  of  Apamea  was  a  splendid  one  for  a  large 
city — the  finest,  we  thought,  of  any  found  in  Syria. 
The  city  stood  on  the  edge  of  an  elevated  plateau, 
which,  tossed  in  billowy  swells,  rolls  out  eastward 
to  the  horizon,  while  on  the  west  it  breaks  down 
abruptly  three  or  four  hundred  feet  to  the  broad 
level  of  the  Orontes,  which  leads  the  eye  north  and 
south  as  far  as  it  can  see.  All  along  the  western 
edge  of  this  river-plain  rises  the  dark  wall  of  Jebel 
Nusairiyeh,  the  northern  continuation  of  the  Lebanon 
range,  which  forms  a  stupendous  rampart  several 
thousand  feet  in  height — so  lofty  that  the  clouds 
often  lie  in  long,  white  drifts  on  its  sides,  or  rest  in 
heavier  and  darker  masses  on  its  summit.  When 
we  saw  it  the  snows  of  winter  mottled  and  streaked 
the  summit,  and  at  evening  the  sunset  tipped  it  all 
along  with  gold.  We  do  not  wonder  that  Seleucus 
Nicator,  with  his  passion  for  building  cities,  should 
have  apparently  been  seized  with  the  idea  that  such 
a  spot,  with  such  surroundings,  could  have  been  cre- 
ated for  no  other  purpose  than  to  serve  as  a  build- 
ino;  site,  and  that  he  should  have  founded  here  one 
of  his  proudest  commissariat  cities,  and  turned  loose 
his  five  hundred  wai'-elephants  and  thirty  thousand 

E 


1 


58  RESIAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

horses  to  feed  in  the  rich  pastures  of  the  Orontes. 
Under  the  Seleucidse,  AjDamea  was  a  beautiful  and 
imposing  city,  and  afterward  constituted  one  of  the 
strongest  and  most  important  cities  of  the  Asiatic 
provinces  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Even  as  late  as 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  it  was  a  populous 
and  wealthy  place,  but  sacking  armies  and  time  have 
left  it  desolate. 

Apamea  was  a  walled  city,  about  four  miles  in  cir- 
cumference. The  ramparts  were  solidly  constructed 
of  large  blocks  of  limestone,  and  can  still  be  distinct- 
ly  traced,  portions  being  in  a  good  state  of  preserva- 
tion. We  entered  the  city  from  the  north,  where  an 
arch,  rising  above  the  line  of  the  halffallen  wall, 
marked  the  position  of  one  of  the  city  gates.  All 
the  lower  part  of  the  gateway,  up  to  the  spring  of 
the  arch,  was  buried  beneath  an  immense  heap  of 
fallen  blocks — the  ruins  of  flanking  towers.  As  we 
clambered  up  and  over  this  confused  pile,  we  were 
astonished  at  the  immense  number,  size,  and  finish  of 
the  sculptured  stones.  From  the  summit  of  the  wall 
we  obtained  one  of  the  most  impressive  and  desolate 
views  that  Syria  affords.  The  great  colonnade,  with 
its  thousands  of  pillars  all  prostrate,  stretched  away 
from  the  gate  more  than  a  mile,  directly  across  the 
desolate  site  of  the  ancient  city.  Scarcely  any  of  the 
columns  had  fallen  outward,  but  almost  all  lay  heap- 
ed in  the  street,  which  was  about  seventy-five  feet 


KUINED  CITIES   OF  NORTHERN  SYRIA.  59 

in  width — twice  the  breadth  of  the  Palmyrian  col- 
onnade. 

For  more  than  an  hour  we  walked  on  down 
through  the  ruin-strewn  avenue,  climbing  over  the 
fallen  pillars,  or  picking  our  steps  among  the  huge 
drums  of  the  disjointed  columns.  The  capitals  that 
filled  the  street  were  exquisitely  wrought:  the  deli- 
cate acanthus  leaves  seemed  as  sharply  traced  as 
when  they  left  the  hand  of  the  sculptor.  At  several 
points  of  the  colonnade  were  breaks,  indicating  the 
entrance  of  side  streets.  Eectangular  recesses,  fur- 
nished with  porticoes,  occurred  at  varying  intervals 
along  the  avenue ;  the  ruins  of  these  pillared  struct- 
ures, and  the  remains  of  temples  and  jDublic  build- 
ings, were  strewn  along  the  entire  length  of  the 
street.  The  entablature  of  the  colonnade,  which  was 
composed  of  heavy  beams  of  sculptured  stones,  lay 
mingled  with  the  confused  lines  of  shafts  and  capi- 
tals. The  shafts  of  the  columns  were  of  various  pat- 
terns— plain,  fluted,  and  spiral — probably  to  break 
the  monotony  of  a  long,  unrelieved  array  of  uniform 
pillars.  The  columns  were  about  thirty  feet  in 
height  and  three  feet  in  diameter.  The  perspective 
effect  of  the  grand  avenue,  thus  flanked  with  varied 
shafts,  crowned  with  Corinthian  ca23itals,  and  sur- 
mounted by  an  elegant  entablature,  must  have  been 
peculiarly  graceful  and  impressive. 

Besides  the  colonnade,  and  the  ruins  we  have  no- 


60  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

ticed  as  lying  alongside  it,  there  are  some  other  re- 
mains scattered  over  the  area  inclosed  by  the  walls. 
But  nothing  remains  erect ;  walls  and  columns  alike 
have  been  leveled  by  the  shock  of  the  earthquake. 
There  is  a  great  difference  observable  between  the 
ruins  here  and  those  at  Palmyra.  The  latter  have  a 
fresh,  bright,  marble-like  appearance,  while  the  for- 
mer are  so  weather-beaten  and  blackened  that  they 
look  exactly  like  the  long-exposed  face  of  natural 
rock  masses.  This  tends  to  lessen,  at  first,  the  effect 
which  such  a  vast  number  of  sculptured  stones  would 
produce  could  the  eye  readily  separate  them  from 
the  dark  surface  upon  which  they  lie.  But  this  very 
condition  of  the  material  heightens  the  impression 
that  follows  a  closer  examination,  for  there  is  a  fresh 
surprise  awaiting  each  step. 

A  portion  of  the  site  is  tilled  by  the  Arab  vil- 
lao;ers.  In  vain  we  searched  amid  the  ruins  for  some 
inscription  that  might  tell  us  something  of  the*  city's 
story.  But  the  stones  are  as  mute  as  the  builders. 
It  was  almost  dark  when  we  gave  over  the  search, 
and  turned  toward  the  castle.  A  death-like  silence 
prevailed  over  the  site  of  the  desolate  city.  As  we 
neared  the  castle,  however,  the  silence  was  broken  by 
the  loud  cries  of  the  villagers,  who  were  driving  their 
flocks  up  the  steep  path,  and  within  the  walls  of  the 
citadel,  that  they  might  be  safe  from  the  raids  of  the 
B('(lawin. 


RUINED   CITIES   OF  NORTHERN   SYRIA.  Qi 

After  spending  one  clay  at  Apamea,  we  resumed 
our  journey  down  the  valley  of  the  Orontes,  follow- 
ing an  ancient  Roman  road,  along  which  some  of 
the  old  mile-posts  were  still  standing.  Only  small 
patches  of  the  broad  valley  were  cultivated ;  but  the 
rank  stalks  of  weeds  and  ^vild  grasses  betrayed  the 
capabilities  of  the  soil.  These  river-flats»were  once 
the  granary  of  Syria,  and  might  become  the  same 
again.  After  riding  down  the  valley  a  few  miles,  we 
climbed  the  eastern  bank  and  rode  in  a  northeast  di- 
rection toward  El-Bara,  over  a  rocky  plateau  which 
recalled  the  scenes  of  Judea.  It  was  cultivated 
where  sufficient  soil  gathered  in  the  depressions  of 
the  plain,  and  a  few  olive-groves  relieved  somewhat 
the  general  barrenness  of  the  country. 

Wretched  Arab  villages  were  scattered  over  the 
plain,  almost  every  one  being  built  among  the  ruins 
of  some  ancient  city ;  many  a  sculptured  stone  look- 
ed out  from  the  walls  of  some  miserable  hovel.  Oft- 
en a  richly  carved  stone,  sometimes  bearing  a  frag- 
ment of  a  Greek  inscription,  formed  the  lintel  to  the 
low  doorway  of  an  Arab's  hut. 

Toward  evening  we  reached  the  remarkable  ruins 
of  El-Bara,  lying  at  the 'Southern  termination  of  Jebel 
Riha.  This  ruined  city  has  been  likened  (by  Porter, 
we  think)  to  Pompeii.  It  is  indisputably  the  Pom- 
peii of  the  East :  its  multitudes  of  wonderfully  pre- 
served buildings  at  once  recall  the  disentombed  Ital- 


62 


REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 


ian  city.  These  extensive  and  interesting  ruins  oc- 
cuf)y  a  broad  valley,  covering  an  area  of  nearly  a 
mile  square.  Among  the  ruins  are  the  remarkably 
preserved  remains  of  churches,  tower-tombs,  public 
and  private  dwellings,  all  constructed  of  large  blocks 
of  stone,  measuring  six  to  eight  feet  in  length,  with  a 
thickness  of  about  twenty  Inches.  Some  of  the  old 
gardens  are  cultivated  by  the  Arabs  of  a  neighbor- 
ing village;  and  many  an  ancient  courtyard  has 
been  converted  into  a  miniature  vineyard.  In  the 
suburbs  of  the  deserted  city  stands  what  was  evi- 
dently one  of  the  finest  j)rivate  residences  of  the 
place,  all  of  its  appurtenances  testifying  to  its  almost 
palatial  character.  The  verandas,  saloons,  galleries, 
offices,  chambers  and  baths,  summer-house  and  wine- 


RUINKI)    DWKLLESTG    AT    EL-RAIIA,  SYT^IA. 

press,  are  strangely  preserved.     The  accompanying  il- 
lustration of  one   of  these  mansions — for  there  are 


RUINED   CITIES   OF   NORTHERN   SYRIA.  (33 

many  of  them — will  convey  a  very  correct  impression 
of  the  style  of  architecture  employed,  and  the  general 
external  appearance  of  the  buildings. 

The  sepulchral  monuments  are  square,  one-storied 
structures,  with  massive  pyramidal  roofs.  There  are 
besides  them  many  rock-hewn  tombs,  somewhat  simi- 
lar to  those  occurring  in  other  parts  of  Syria.  The 
cross,  which  appears  frequently  on  the  entrances  to 
the  tombs,  and  upon  the  churches,  tell  us  that  the 
people  who  built  them  were  Christians ;  but  beyond 
this  we  know  but  little  or  nothing.  From  the  style 
of  architecture,  we  may  conjecture  the  city  to  date 
from  the  fifth  or  sixth  century.  There  is  nothing 
sadder  than  these  cities  of  forgotten  history :  they 
have  no  story,  though  they  seem  almost  as  perfect  as 
if  deserted  but  yesterday,* 

Between  El-Bara  and  Aleppo,  a  journey  whicb  we 


*  Quite  recently  two  works  have  appeared  upon  these  mined  cities, 
one  entitled  the  "  Sacred  Architecture  of  Northern  Syria,"  by  M.  le 
Comte  de  Voqiie ;  the  other,  "  Unexplored  Syria,"  by  Burton  and  Drake. 
The  latter  travelers  explored  quite  thoroughly  the  Ala  district,  lying- 
northeast  and  southeast  of  Hamah.  The  Arabs  told  them  that  the 
district  contained  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  ruined  towns,  so  that 
"  a  man  might  have  traveled  for  one  year  in  the  district  and  never  have 
slept  twice  in  the  same  village ;"  and  Burton  adds  that  his  observations 
lead  him  to  believe  that  the  fact  is  not  much  exaggerated.  But  little 
additional  light  is  thrown  upon  the  history  of  the  people  who  built 
these  cities,  the  remains  of  which  thus  thickly  stud  the  country.  The 
authors  of  "  Unexplored  Syria,"  however,  surmise  that  the  inhabitants 
of  the  district  embraced  by  the  text  were  native  Syrians,  who  had  felt 
the  influence  of  Greek  and  Roman  civilization.  That  they  had  felt  the 
touch  of  Christianity  we  have  already  seen. 


(34  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

accomplished  in  two  days,  the  country  is  for  the  most 
part  cultivated ;  but  at  times  it  is  rocky  and  barren. 
Little  Arab  villages  constantly  appear,  many  of  them 
deserted ;  but  much  more  numerous  are  the  sites  of 
ancient  cities  and  the  remains  of  later  Christian 
towns.  Jebel  El-Zorvi,  a  I'ange  of  hills  not  far  from 
Aleppo,  is  filled  with  the  ruins  of  the  latter,  some  of 
them  almost  as  extensive,  and  even  more  interesting, 
from  the  number  of  palatial  structures  they  contain, 
than  those  of  El-Bara.  The  traveler  is  here  constant- 
ly stumbling  over  some  remains  of  antiquity — ruined 
cities,  broken  sculptures,  fragments  of  columns,  in- 
scribed stones,  beautifully  enchased  blocks,  extensive 
quarries,  and  every  where  rock-hewn  tombs,  which 
all  bear  witness  to  a  by-gone  period  of  populousness 
and  prosperity. 

And  thus  it  is  throughout  all  Northern  Syria. 
There  is  a  ruined  Palmyra,  a  ruined  Apamea,  or  a 
ruined  El-Bara  covering  every  once-pleasant  oasis,  or 
lying  in  every  once -fertile  valle}^,  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  The  remains  of  one 
empire  are  heaped  upon  those  of  a  preceding  one. 
There  are  ante-Grecian  and  Grecian  ruins,  Roman 
ruins,  Christian  ruins,  Saracenic  ruins.  The  decay  of 
empire,  the  storm  of  conquest,  the  fury  of  barbarian 
eruptions,  the  raids  of  Bedawin,  the  oppressive  exac- 
tions of  a  tyrannical  government  —  these  tell  the 
whole  story.     The  Grecian  army  despoiled,  but  the 


RUINED   CITIES   OF  NORTHERN   SYRIA.  (35 

Grecian  artists  restored ;  the  Roman  army  destroyed, 
but  the  Roman  artists  recreated;  but  the  fanatical, 
iconoclastic  Saracen  overthrew  every  thing,  and  set 
u])  nothing ;  the  Mongul  conquerors  swept  the  coun- 
try as  with  the  besom  of  destruction,  razing  the  cities, 
extirpating  the  inhabitants,  and  leaving  a  howling 
waste  behind ;  then  the  cruel,  hated,  grasping  Turk 
came,  and  what  with  governmental  opj^ression,  dis- 
couragement to  industry,  hateful  sectarian  strife,  the 
blighting  influence  of  Islamism,  general  insecurity  of 
life  and  property,  constant  despoilings  by  the  rob- 
bers of  the  desert,  unrestrained  by  the  weak  arm, 
and  unpunished  by  the  halting  vengeance  of  the 
Turkish  government — what  ^vith  all  these  anarchiz- 
ing  and  depopulating  causes  the  land  lies  waste  and 
desolate. 


06 


REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 


CHAPTER  HI 

ACEOSS     THE     MESOPOTAMIAN     PLAIlSrS. 

Descrii)tiou  of  Aleppo. — A  Curiosity  Shop. — Malum  Alepporum. — Our 
Departure  for  Niueveli. — xirtificial  Tells. — A  Superstition  of  the  Des- 
ert.— State  of  the  Country. — The  Euj^hrates. — A  Native  Ferry. — 
Town  of  Birijic. — A  Refreshing  Scene. — Incidents  of  Travel. — Ur 
of  the  Chaldees. — A  Lonely  Cemetery. — Ruins  of  Verran  Sherahr. — 
Rock-built  Tombs. — Bedawin  Hospitality. — Meteorological  Phenom- 
ena.—Mardin.— The  Castle.— A  Grand  Outlook.— The  Town.— Prot- 
estant Missions. — A  Serious  Accident. — We  Resume  our  Journey. — 
Mesopotamian  Villages. — Ruins  of  Dara.— Site  of  the  Roman  Town 
of  Nisibis.— Along  the  Tio-ris.— Mosul. 


MESOPOTAMIAN    PLAINS. 


A  GRAND  view  of  the  city  of  Aleppo  is  gained 
from  the  walls  of  its  famous  old  castle  mound,  which 
rises  from  the  centre  of  the  town,  prominent  as  an 


ACROSS   THE   I^IESOPOTAMIAN   PLAINS.  Q^ 

Athenian  Acroj^olis.  At  the  coiq?  (Voeil  it  impresses 
one  as  being  the  least  Oriental  of  Eastern  cities. 
The  larger  portion  appears  thoroughly  European : 
take  away  the  minarets  of  the  mosques,  and  one  would 
believe  that  one  were  overlooking  the  roofs  of  a 
Western  city ;  but  in  the  quarter  of  the  bazaars  the 
roofs  are  heavily  turfed,  and  unite  in  forming  long, 
grass-grown  terraces,  where  nothing  save  projecting 
sky-lights  suggests  the  presence  of  a  city  beneath. 
The  houses  are  generally  two  or  three  stories  in 
height,  and  are  destitute  of  chimneys ;  but  the  little 
tower-ventilators,  designed  to  catch  the  breezes  of 
heaven  and  lead  them  to  the  chambers  of  the  dwell- 
ing, take  their  place  in  appearance,  and  beguile  the 
imagination  into  creating  pleasant  firesides  beneath. 
Here  and  there  a  tall,  dark  cypress,  rising  from  the 
sacred  inclosure  of  some  mosque,  relieves  the  monot- 
ony of  the  dingy -gray  mass  of  buildings.  Extensive 
cemeteries  form  an  almost  perfect  cordon  about  the 
town.  The  gardens,  created  by  the  Nahr  Howaik, 
and  the  surrounding  orchards  of  olive  and  pistachio 
trees,  relieve  somewhat  the  dreariness  of  its  environs. 
Far  to  the  north  the  lofty  and,  through  a  portion  of 
the  year,  snow-tipped  ranges  of  the  Taurus  and  Ama- 
nus  j)eep  above  the  plain ;  west  and  south,  beyond 
the  gardens,  low,  bleak,  rock-pierced  hills  limit  the 
view ;  eastward  the  dreary  reaches  of  the  great  des- 
ert lead  the  eye  without  a  rest  to  the  horizon. 


08  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

Previous  to  the  terrible  earthquake  of  1822,  which 
caused  a  partial  desertion  of  the  city,  Aleppo  had  a 
population  of  upward  of  200,000 ;  the  best  resident 
authorities  estimate  the  present  number  of  inhabit- 
ants at  120,000.  Of  this  number  about  20,000  are 
Christians,  30,000  Jews,  and  the  remainder  Moham- 
medans."^    Three  centuries  ago,  when  the  European 

*  One  of  the  most  curious  diseases  of  the  East  takes  its  name,  malum 
Alepparum^  or  huton  Walep^  from  the  virulent  character  it  assumes  at 
Aleppo.  It  is  an  endemic  tuberculous  disease,  first  appearing  as  a  little 
liard  swelling,  wliicli  in  a  few  months  begins  to  sujjpurate ;  continues  in 
this  state  four  or  five  months,  and  then  gradually  desiccates,  leaving 
at  first  a  red  spot,  which  during  the  second  year  gives  place  to  a  silvery 
scar,  similar  to  that  left  by  a  burn.  The  disease  rarely  attacks  the 
same  person  twice.  Every  native  suffers  from  it,  and  no  foreigner 
long  a  resident  of  the  city  escapes.  Children  are  generally  attacked 
before  their  third  year;  not  a  child  born  in  AlejDpo  reaches  its  tenth 
year  unscathed.  Foreigners  are  attacked  after  the  lapse  of  varying  jje- 
riods;  in  some  cases  it  appears  after  a  few  months'  residence,  but  in 
others  not  till  twenty  or  more  years  have  passed.  It  is  in  no  way  or 
degree  contagious.  The  tubercles  generallj'^  appear  ujjon  the  exposed 
portions  of  the  person :  most  frequently,  in  the  case  of  natives,  upon 
the  face ;  but  adult  foreigners  often  esca])e  with  one  or  two  insignifi- 
cant tubercles  upon  the  wrist,  and  even  when  it  does  ajipear  upon  the 
face,  its  swellings  are  generally  small,  so  that  the  scar  left  is  scarcely 
perceptible.  The  number  of  tubercles,  in  the  case  of  native-born  jjcr- 
sons,  varies  greatly :  generally  the  numljer  docs  not  exceed  three  or 
four;  yet  we  saw  children  that  had  had  upward  of  forty,  wliicli  had 
left  the  face  friglitfully  disfigured.  The  children  of  foreigners  are 
equally  subject  to  the  disease  as  those  of  natives.  This  is  not  one  of 
the  slightest  annoyances  to  which  tlic  families  of  our  missionaries  art- 
subjected. 

Tlic  disease  lias  Ijecn  carefully  studied  hy  different  medical  jiersons, 
particularly  by  MM.  Guillion  and  Lagasquie,  in  1835,  but  nothing  sat- 
isfactory has  been  discovered  respecting  its  cause,  jirevention,  or  cure. 
It  is  conjectured,  however,  that  the  disorder  is  occasioned  by  the  water. 
Antioch,  only  two  days  from  Alejjpo,  is  free  from  its  visitations.  Mar- 
din  and  Aintab  are  afflicted  txuite  as  badly  as  Aleppo.     W^ithin  one 


ACROSS   THE   MESOPOTAMIAN   PLAINS.  (39 

trade  witli  India  was  carried  on  advantageously  by 
the  overland  route  via  Aleppo  and  the  Euphrates, 
an  English  Victory,  comprising  eighty  families,  was 
established  at  Aleppo.  The  quaint  tablets  in  the 
little  English  cemetery  are  the  principal  memorials 
of  the  almost  forgotten  enterprise.  There  are  at 
present  only  a  very  small  number  of  European  trad- 
ers in  the  city.  The  family  of  Di".  D.  H.  Nutting, 
the  kindest  courtesies  of  whose  home  we  enjoyed 
during  our  visit  to  the  city,  are  the  only  American 
residents. 

Aleppo  is  still  quite  a  busy  centre  of  Eastern 
trade.  Its  bazaars  exhibit  quite  as  great  a  variety 
of  the  world's  products  as  those  of  Damascus,  while 
far  surpassing  them  in  cleanliness  and  convenience. 
In  a  general  way  we  disa23prove  of  discriminating 
notices;  yet  we  feel  impelled  to  here  make  particu- 
lar mention  of  a  certain  Aleppine  variety  store,  kept 
by  an  English-speaking  native,  whose  name,  unfor- 
tunately for  the  value  of  this  advertisement  to  him, 
has  escaped  our  memory.  We  spent  half  a  day,  just 
out  of  irrepressible  curiosity,  investigating  his  stock, 
which  rivaled  the  most  marvelously  conglomerated 

hour's  ride  from  the  first  mentioned  is  a  Tillage  where  the  disease  is 
unknown,  yet  neighboring  towns  similarly  situated  do  not  enjoy  the 
same  exemption.  It  also  prevails  along  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates  as 
far  as  Bagdad,  where,  however,  it  loses  the  endemic  character  it  exhib- 
its at  Aleppo  and  Mardin.  We  saw  but  few  individuals  in  that  city 
who  bore  the  disfigurini?  scar. 


70  REiMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

museum.  He  had  collected  every  thing  from  Ho- 
mer's Iliad  to  a  sj^ading-fork.  We  found  Manchester 
prints  and  French  silks,  groceries  and  hardware,  con- 
fectionary and  dry-goods,  ready-made  clothing — most 
of  which  had  been  ready  for  a  long  time — French 
hats,  English  boots  and  shoes,  native  sandals,  poly- 
glot books  —  written  in  Greek,  Latin,  French,  Ger- 
man, Italian,  Spanish,  Armenian,  English,  Arabic,  and 
Turkish — antiquities  ancient  and  modern  ad  infini- 
tum, statuary,  wines,  and  photogra2:)hs. 

We  have  many  pleasant  reminiscences  of  Alej)po, 
all  of  which,  however,  cluster  about  the  pleasant 
home  of  our  kind  entertainer,  Dr.  Nuttiuo;.  It  is 
largely  to  the  efforts  of  this  earnest,  laborious,  and 
devoted  missionary  that  is  due  the  establishment  of 
the  first  church  of  the  American  mission  in  this  city. 
This  church  has  now  a  congregation  of  about  eighty 
persons,  and  a  membershijD  of  thirteen  —  the  first- 
fruits  of  Protestant  Christian  effort  in  Aleppo. 
May  heaven  bless  the  Avork  and  the  worker. 

It  was  near  the  close  of  January  before  we  were 
again  in  the  saddle,  prepared  for  our  trip  across  the 
Mesopotamian  plains  to  Nineveh — a  journey,  by  usu- 
al caravan  stages,  via  Mardin,  of  twenty  days.  We 
had  delayed  our  departure  from  Aleppo  a  little  in 
order  to  attach  ourselves  to  a  lai*ge  caravan,  destined 
for  tlie  latter  place.  This  caravan  consisted  of  near- 
ly a  hundred  horses  and  mules,  these  animals  being 


ACROSS   THE   MES0P0TA3IIAN   PLAINS.  7 J 

almost  exclusively  employed  for  transportation  pur- 
poses between  Aleppo  and  Mospl  (Nineveh).  The 
carterjee — the  conductor  of  the  caravan — had  put 
off  the  time  for  starting  from  day  to  day — for  an 
Arab  is  a  perfect  Spaniard  in  believing  that  to-mor- 
row, or  day  after  to-morrow,  is  the  only  proper  time 
for  doing  a  thing  —  so  that  February  was  almost 
leading  in  the  Syrian  sj^ring  when  we  bade  adieu  to 
our  good  Aleppine  friends. 

Once  beyond  the  limits  of  the  city,  we  immediately 
entered  upon  an  undulating  country,  bleak  in  its 
general  aspect;  for  though  the  depressions  were 
freshened  to  an  emerald  hue  under  the  influence  of 
the  spring  rains,  the  hills  were  rocky  and  ban-en. 

We  halted  the  first  night  from  Aleppo  at  a  huddle 
of  conical  huts  called  by  the  Arabs  Ak-terin,  near 
an  immense  artificial  mound,  nearly  half  a  mile  in 
circumference,  and  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
high,  surrounded  in  part  by  a  cyclopean  wall,  twelve 
or  fifteen  feet  in  height,  constructed  of  huge  basaltic 
boulders.  One  could  almost  believe  that  the  Titans 
heaped  up  the  mound,  and  piled  round  it  the  wall 
of  enormous  rocks  to  support  the  earth. 

One  is  astonished  at  the  vast  number  of  these 
mounds  occurring  throughout  Northern  Syria  and 
Mesopotamia.  Upon  the  plains  of  the  latter  we 
have  counted  twenty  within  range  of  the  vision. 
Many  of  these  tells  have  little  villages  clustered  at 


72  ■  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

their  base ;  the  natives  selecting  such  a  site,  we  were 
informed,  because  of  the  shelter  afforded  by  the  mounds 
from  the  cold  northerly  winds.  In  the  formation  of 
the  tell,  advantage  seems  to  have  been  taken,  in  some 
cases,  of  a  natural  eminence;  but  generally  the  entire 
enormous  pile  is  unmistakably  of  artificial  construc- 
tion. It  is  quite  as  difficult  to  discover  their  origin 
and  jourpose  as  to  arrive  at  any  satisfactory  conclii- 


ANCIENT   TELL    AND   ARAB   VILLAGE. 

sion  respecting  the  "  round  towers  "  of  Ireland.  That 
they  date  back  to  the  very  earliest  times,  there  is, 
however,  no  doubt.  We  know  that  the  Assyrians 
and  Babylonians  always  raised  their  palaces  and 
temples  on  high  artificial  mounds,  and  some  of  these 
tells  may  have  subserved  similar  purj^oses ;  yet  very 
few  of  them 'bear  any  evidence  of  having  ever  been 
l)uilt  upon. 


ACROSS   THE   31ES0P0TAMIAN  PLAINS.  73 

From  Ak-terin  we  journeyed  on  three  clays  toward 
the  Euphrates.  For  the  first  day  the  country  was 
dotted  with  little  villages  and  artificial  tells.  In 
many  j)laces  basaltic  rocks  covered  the  plain  as 
thou2:h  sown  broadcast  over  the  land.  The  culti- 
vated  valleys  were  separated  by  broad  belts  of  ste- 
rility, where  the  underlying  rock  pierced  the  thin 
soil.  A  small  semi-Bedawin  village,  a  sort  of  cara- 
van station,  composed  of  mud  huts  and  black  tents, 
euphoniously  designated  by  the  Arabs  Beg-ler-beg, 
afforded  us  shelter  for  the  night.  The  second  day 
the  country  traversed  grew  drearier :  the  ground  was 
deeply  furrowed  by  winter  torrents,  all  of  the  ugly, 
gaping  ravines  running  eastward  toward  the  Eu- 
phrates. 

On  this  dreary,  uninhabited  tract  we  passed  a  sol- 
itary tree,  stunted  and  haggard,  heaped  about  with 
stones,  and  with  every  bough  and  twig  hung  with 
bits  of  rao's  of  varied  colors,  broug-ht  from  the  bodies 
of  23ersous  suffering  with  disease,  and  left  here  as  a 
sort  of  efficacious  offering  for  their  recovery.  It  is 
curious  to  observe  the  universality  of  the  custom 
among  peoples  of  low  intellectual  attainments  to  re- 
gard with  a  certain  ill-defined  veneration  any  object, 
especially  if  it  be  something  of  life,  which  rises  con- 
spicuous amid  scenes  of  bleak  loneliness.  Among 
Alps  and  Andes  alike,  the  tree  that  clings  alone  to 

the  rocks  of  the  highest  pass  is  sure  to  be  looked 

F 


74  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

upon,  by  the  superstitious  fancy  of  the  mountaineers, 
as  the  "genius  of  the  place."  There  is  something- 
melancholy  in  finding,  on  lonely  desert  or  upland, 
these  mementos  of  a  vague  superstition,  that  insists 
upon  seeking  amid  the  surroundings  of  an  unsympa- 
thetic nature  for  some  object  which  it  may  regard 
with  a  sort  of  fetich  veneration.  Perhaps  it  may 
teach  us  how  natural  to  certain  circumstances  and 
conditions  of  the  mind  is  that  strange  worship  of  the 
Africans  which  we  denominate  Fetichism. 

Mezar  was  our  second  night's  station  from  Ak- 
terin.  It  was  a  little  town  situated  in  a  broad  val- 
ley, the  bottom  of  which,  with  the  slope  of  the  flank- 
ing hills,  was  covered  with  groves  of  olive  and  fig, 
recalling  the  gardens  of  Bey  rout,  Damascus,  and 
Riha.  It  was  a  refreshing  sight  to  look  \ii)on  tree 
vegetation  again,  after  having  traversed  such  a  bar- 
ren country  as  lay  behind  us.  It  is  a  question 
whether  Northern  Syria  was  ever  covered  with  na- 
tive forest;  but  it  is  not  at  all  problematical  but 
that  a  skillful  and  well-sustained  system  of  arbori- 
culture would  hide  -svith  fruitful  orchards  and  pleas- 
ant groves  much  of  the  present  nakedness  of  the 
land.  But  it  will  be  a  long  time  before  such  Mor- 
mon-like enterprise  is  seen  in  the  dominions  of  the 
Sultan. 

Upon  the  fifth  day  from  Alepi)o  we  reached  the 
Euphrates,  the  fourth  river  that  watered  the  Garden 


ACROSS  THE  JVIESOPOTAMIAN  PLAINS.  75 

of  Eden — "  the  Great  River,"  as  the  ancients  spoke 
of  it,  and  very  properly  too,  for,  thougli  insignificant 
compared  with  some  of  our  oceanic  rivers,  it  was 
one  of  the  largest  they  had.  It  was  a  moment  of  in- 
terest when  first  we  caught  sight  of  its  gleaming 
waters;  for  though  we  may  be  disaj^pointed  in  our 
attempts  to  discover  at  what  point  of  its  course  it 
hid  itself  amid  the  foliage  of  the  Garden,  still  we  al- 
ways regard  it  as  one  of  the  indisputa-ble  streams 
of  Paradise ;  and  thus  it  becomes  early  associated,  in 
all  our  vague,  childish  iiiiaginings,  with  the  home  of 
our  first  parents.  Besides,  the  connection  of  the  Eu- 
phrates with  a  hundred  succeeding  events  makes  the 
name  at  once  sacred  and  historic. 

As  we  approached  the  valley  of  the  river  we  were 
struck  by  its  remarkable  similarity  to  the  depression 
of  the  Jordan  and  of  the  Dead  Sea,  as  viewed  from 
the  hills  of  Palestine.  While  the  river  was  still 
many  miles  distant,  its  course  was  discovered  by  the 
abrupt,  deeply  furrowed  cliffs  of  the  farther  bank, 
that  rise  from  the  river-valley  as  barren,  blasted,  and 
forbidding  as  the  mountains  of  Moab  and  Bashan. 

A  gently  descending  plain,  deeply  plowed  by  win- 
ter streams,  led  us  to  the  edge  of  the  river- valley. 
Very  different  from  each  other  were  the  views  we 
gained  as  we  looked  up  the  stream  and  then  turned 
and  followed  the  river  as  it  lost  itself  to  the  south- 
ward :  far  away  to  the  north  the  lofty  ranges  of  the 


76  EEMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

Taurus  seemed  to  close  tlie  valley  with  arctic  fields  of 
snow  and  cold  ;  to  the  south,  a  warm  haze  hung  over 
the  low-lying  plains  of  Mesopotamia,  that  rolled  out 
in  lazy  swells  to  the  glowing  horizon.  The  Boreal 
North  thus  abruptly  confronted  the  Sunny  South. 
How  we  wished  ourselves  upon  the  river,  floating 
with  it  down  into  those  warm,  pleasant  days  that 
seemed  to  hang  over  the  southern  plains. 

Our  caravan  crossed  the  Euphrates  by  means  of  a 
curious,  crazy,  native  ferry-boat,  unmistakably  of  a 
high  antiquity.  The  stern  terminated  abruptly,  and 
was  low  and  open;  but  the  bow  was  sharp  and  high 
enough  to  make  up,  in  these  matters,  for^  any  defi- 
ciency that  might  be  felt  by  the  opposite  end  of  the 
craft.  The  aftair  was  managed  by  two  eternally 
long,  clumsily  spliced  sweeps,  worked  by  several 
Arabs  perched  in  the  lofty  prow. 

From  the  foot  of  the  ferry  we  clambered  up  an 
abrupt  bank  to  Birijic,  a  town  of  from  twelve  to  fif 
teen  thousand  inhabitants,  scarcely  distinguishable 
from  the  white  limestone  cliff  to  which  it  clino-s:  in- 
deed,  many  of  the  dwellings  are  rock-hewn  excava- 
tions, and  seem  more  like  toml)s  than  habitations 
for  the  living.  We  christened  it  "  The  Petra  of  the 
Euphrates."  Tlie  ruinous  walls  of  an  old  castle 
crown  an  artificially  isolated  rock,  two  hundred  feet 
in  height.  Biiijic  was  in  the  time  of  the  Romans 
an  important  and  strongly  fortified  place,  as  is  evi- 


ACROSS   THE   MESOPOTAMIAN   PLAINS.  77 

denced  by  tlie  carefully  constructed  walls  that  were 
thrown  around  the  town.  These  walls  are  still  in  a 
good  state  of  preservation.  They  are  solidly  con- 
structed of  beveled  stones,  are  from  thirty  to  forty 
feet  in  height,  and  are  strengthened,  at  intervals,  with 
square  towers.  They  seem  most  ludicrously  out  of 
proportion  to  the  present  size  and  importance  of  the 
town,  which  is  half  deserted,  and  contains  nothing 
that  would  excite  even  a  Bedawy'raid. 

We  passed  a  quiet  Sabbath  at  Birijic,  in  an  old 
khan,  and  on  Monday  resumed  our  journey,  one  day 
in  the  rear  of  the  caravan,  which  we  expected  to  over- 
take at  Urfa,  two  days  ahead.  A  few  hours  from 
Bii'ijic  we  met  a  party  of  four  or  five  horsemen, 
breaking  along  among  the  rocks  at  a  reckless  speed. 
They  proved  to  be  the  post,  with  the  Aleppo  mail. 
This  was  the  first  thing  that  looked  like  a  hurry  we 
had  seen  in  Syria.  It  was  really  refreshing  to  see 
something  moving  lively  in  such  a  stupidly  slow 
country. 

Before  the  close  of  the  day's  ride  we  Avere  enter- 
tained by  a  slight  mischance  sufi'ered  by  our  compa- 
gnon  de  voyage^  a  young  Armenian  Christian,  who  had 
iilso  dropped  out  of  the  caravan  at  Birijic.  As  is 
the  custom  of  the  country,  he  had  an  infinite  variety 
of  travelins;  conveniences  huno;  about  the  animal  he 
strode.  In  the  absence  of  stirrups,  he  rode  with  one 
foot  planted  in  his  dinner-kettle,  which  hung  from 


^j-g  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

the  saddle.  This  was  well  enough,  for  in  an  emer- 
gency any  thing  may  very  properly  answer  the  pur- 
pose of  any  thing  else.  But  his  horse,  while  labor- 
ing under  some  little  excitement,  also  j^ut  his  foot 
into  the  vessel — and  that  was  the  last  service  that 
kettle  ever  did  either  as  a  stirrup  or  a  culinary  ar- 
ticle. We  introduce  this  incident  or  disaster  simply 
to  illustrate  how,  when  one  is  hard  pressed  for 
amusement,  the  slightest  occurrence  characterized  by 
the  least  irregularity  will  serve  to  entertain,  for  this 
little  episode  was  at  the  time  really  diverting. 

For  the  greater  part  of  the  second  day  from  Biri- 
jic  we  wound  through  serpentine  w^adys  amid  rocky 
and  desolate  hills,  and  toward  evening  made  a  long, 
winding,  and  precipitous  descent  to  a  broad,  well-cul- 
tivated valley,  opening  south  upon  the  dead  level  of 
the  Mesopotamian  plains.  Here  we  found  the  city 
of  Urfa,  which  some,  misled  by  the  name,  have  sup- 
posed identical  with  Ur  of  the  Chaldees ;  but  more 
recent  research  has  unmistakably  identified  the  site 
of  that  ancient  city  with  the  extensive  ruins  of  Mug- 
heir,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Euphrates.  The  walls 
of  Urfa,  though  now  fallen  sadly  out  of  repair,  indi- 
cate it  to  have  formerly  been  a  place  of  considerable 
strength  and  importance.  We  should  estimate  its 
present  population  at  about  twenty-five  thousand. 

For  foiu"  days  after  leaving  Urfa  we  traversed  the 
most  mournfully  desolate  country  the  sun  ever  look- 


ACROSS   THE   MESOPOTAMIA:^f   PLAINS.  79 

ed  upon.  There  were  no  villages  or  klians  to  ofter 
us  shelter  at  night ;  so  we  were  glad  for  the  protec- 
tion of  some  halffallen  ruin,  and  really  grateful 
when  w^e  found  an  old  cave. 

During  the  second  day's  march  we  discovered  a 
large  ancient  cemetery ;  the  cross  upon  many  of  the 
tombs  alone  told  us  that  it  dated  back  to  the  times 
of  the  early  Christians.  All  around,  the  plain  was 
dotted  with  artificial  tells,  indicatinoj  that  once  a 
large  population  filled  with  life  and  movement  the 
tract  now  desolate  and  silent  as  the  graves  of  the 
cemetery.  We  could  find  no  other  traces  of  the  city 
that  must  have  stood  near ;  the  worn  and  overturned 
stones  of  the  lonely  cemetery,  lying  thus  forgotten 
upon  the  desolate  plains,  was  all  that  was  left  to  tell 
the  story  of  the  Christian  city. 

The  third  day  we  left  our  caravan,  and  made  a  de- 
tour of  several  hours'  ride  from  the  main  trail,  in  or- 
der to  examine  the  interestino^  ruins  of  Verran  She- 
rah,  the  existence  of  Avhich  had  been  made  known  to 
us  by  Dr.  Nutting,  who  thought  himself  the  first 
American  who  had  seen  them.  Oui'  interest  had 
been  excited  by  his  description  of  the  remains ;  but, 
notwithstanding  our  being  thus  prepared  for  any 
thing  that  we  might  find,  we  were  astonished  at  the 
extent,  variety,  and  interesting  nature  of  the  ruins. 
The  destroyed  city  was  surrounded  by  a  strongly  built 
wall,  about  three  miles  in  circuit,  which  still  retains 


80  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

from  ten  to  twenty  feet  of  its  original  height.  We 
climbed  to  the  summit  of  this  wall,  and  looked  down 
upon  the  ruined  city  within.  A  perfect  chaos  of 
ruins  covered  the  entire  inclosed  area.  Long,  heavy 
lines  of  building  debris  enabled  the  eye  to  trace  out 
several  of  the  ancient  streets.  Strewn  about  were 
columns  of  basalt,  limestone,  and  variegated  marble. 
A  little  pool,  choked  with  rubbish,  marked  the  site 
of  a  beautiful  fountain,  fragments  of  the  raised  pave- 
ment being  still  preserved.  A  cluster  of  columns, 
bearing  aloft  several  bold  arches,  pointed  out  the  an- 
cient church. 

A  little  distance  from  the  city  are  the  prominent 
ruins  of  a  singular  structure :  a  heavy  double  wall, 
circular  without  but  octagonal  \vithin,  inclosed  a 
court  about  fifty  feet  in  diameter.  The  inner  wall  is 
quite  well  preserved,  and  is  about  forty  feet  in 
height.  Upon  the  fallen  lintel  of  the  entrance  we 
found  a  cross,  which  unmistakably  indicated  the 
building  to  be  an  ecclesiastical  structure  of  the  early 
Christians.  The  whole  Avas  constructed  of  basalt, 
and  looked  as  black  and  gloomy  as  though  just 
dragged  up  from  the  sooty  forge  of  Vulcan. 

Near  tliis  singular  Ijuilding  are  the  tombs  of  an 
extensive  cemetery.  Some  of  the  sepulchral  monu- 
ments resemble  the  tower-tombs  of  El-Bara ;  but 
the  most  common  form  is  that  of  a  semi -subter- 
ranean chamber,  containing  vaulted  recesses  for  the 


ACROSS   THE   MESOPOTAMIAN  PLAINS.  g^ 

sarcophagi,  and  roofed  with  long,  heavy  slabs  of  ba- 
salt, laid  horizontally.  The  entrance  was  secured  by 
a  heavy  stone  door,  six  inches  or  more  in  thickness, 
and  swinging  u^jon  pivots — just  such  as  are  found  in 
the  "  Giant  Cities  of  Bashan,"  throughout  the  Hau- 
ran.  It  required  all  the  strength  we  could  exert  to 
swing  some  of  these  heavy  doors. 

Near  the  wall  of  the  ruined  city  was  an  encamp- 
ment of  Bedawin ;  and  after  we  had  finished  our  ex- 
amination of  the  remains,  the  sheik,  wdio  disported 
himself  with  a  gold  watch  and  chain,  invited  us  to 
partake  of  the  hospitality  of  his  tent.  It  being  late 
in  the  afternoon,  and  having  a  long  ride  yet  before 
us,  we  declined ;  but  seeing  that  we  were  offending 
by  our  refusal,  we  finally  dismounted,  entered  the 
tent,  and  squatted  a  Varabe  w^ith  the  group  about 
the  fire.  To  pass  without  entering  the  tent  of  a 
sheik — which  is  always  pitched  on  that  side  of  the 
encampment  which  is  likely  to  be  first  approached 
by  strangers,  that  the  chief  may  enjoy  the  privilege 
of  first  extending  the  hospitalities  of  the  tribe — is 
considered  a  great  breach  of  desert  etiquette. 

After  a  slight  refection  of  wonderfully  strong  cof 
fee  and  wafer  bread,  we  were  allowed  to  resume  our 
journey,  without  hearing  any  thing  about  the  eter- 
nal hachsliisli  of  the  villagers.  We  never  heard  that 
word  from  the  true  Bedawin  of  the  desert.  It  may 
1)6  argued,  on  the  other  hand,  that  they  have  a  very 


32  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

cool  way  of  apj^ropriating  what  they  desire,  without 
taking  the  trouble  to  ask  for  it.  They  are,  indeed, 
addicted  to  this  habit;  but  then  they  regard  the 
matter  from  a  different  stand-point  than  what  we  do. 
They  claim  this  as  one  of  their  privileges ;  for  they 
say  that  when  Abraham  shamefully  turned  their  fa- 
ther Ishmael  out  in  the  desert,  God  gave  those  des- 
erts to  him  and  his  posterity,  with  full  permission  to 
appropriate  any  thing  they  might  discover  upon 
them  (Introduction  to  Sale's  Koran).  There  surely  is 
nothing  very  different  in  this  claim  from  the  Chris- 
tian notion  of  the  right  of  possession  from  discovery, 
which  has  led  to  such  serious  misunderstandings 
with  the  autochthones  of  different  continents,  who  are 
too  stupid  to  comprehend  the  fairness  of  the  claim. 

The  journey  from  Verran  Sherahr  to  Mardin,  which 
occupied  two  days,  was  excessively  monotonous ;  yet 
we  generally  managed  in  some  way  to  break  the  te- 
dium of  the  march.  When  traveling  by  night,  as 
we  most  frequently  did,  we  passed  the  time  in  vari- 
ous discussions;  or  we  studied  the  heavens,  which 
were  always  calm  and  brilliant :  the  stars,  with  the 
exception  of  those  low  in  the  horizon,  looking  down 
through  the  deep  heavens  with  that  steady  "plan- 
etary light"  that  they  exhibit  when  viewed  from 
lofty  table-lands.  Instead  of  shooting  down  their 
light  in  sharp,  quivering  rays,  they  shed  it  softly  as 
the  dew  falls;  and  the  objects  upon  which  it  fell,  in- 


ACROSS  THE  ]\iesopotamia:n^  PLAIXS.  33 

stead  of  being  shot  througb  with  keen  shafts,  were 
bathed  in  a  soft,  hazy,  ethereal  light,  which,  when  it 
played  with  the  tracery  of  the  desert  shrubs,  created 
a  perfectly  indefinable  witchery  of  light  and  shade. 

Another  meteorological  phenomenon  —  for  consid- 
ering the  atmospheric  origin  of  the  above  '^v^e  may 
properly  speak  thus — which  we  observed  one  day 
when  the  sky  was  flecked  with  clouds,  and  the  at- 
mosphere slightly  dimmed  with  haze,  was  the  dis- 
tinct columns  of  shadow  that  the  floating  clouds 
threw  down  to  the  earth,  so  that  they  seemed  to  rest 
each  upon  its  own  shadow  and  to  be  borne  up  by  it. 
The  majestic  appearance  of  these  lofty,  airy,  cloud- 
capped  pillars,  as  in  weird  mimicry  of  a  giant,  shad- 
owy forest  they  thickened  in  distant  perspective,  was 
wonderfully  grand  and  impressive. 

While  yet  a  long  day's  journey  from  Mardin  we 
caught  sight  of  its  lofty  castle,  perched  upon  one  of 
the  highest  points  of  the  hills  that  overhang  the 
plains  of  Mesopotamia  upon  the  north,  as  aerial  as 
ever  Virgil  imagined  the  towers  of  Phseacia.  We 
reached  the  city  without  incident,  but  not  without 
difiiculty.  Those  must  have  been  stormy  times 
when  men  were  constrained  to  perch  their  dwellings 
upon  such  inaccessible  rocks. 

The  castle  of  Mardin,  which  crowns  the  precipi- 
tous crag,  stands  about  two  thousand  feet  above  the 
Mesopotamian  plains,  its  ruinous  walls  giving  an  im- 


84  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

posing  castellated  appearance  to  tlie  lofty  rock.  The 
ancient  town  was  crowded  within  the  walls  of  the 
castle,  which  incloses  an  irregular  area  al)oiit  half  a 
mile  in  length.  The  rock  is  honey-combed  w4th  cis- 
terns, of  which  w^e  were  told  there  were  between  two 
and  three  hundred ;  as  in  the  event  of  siege  the  in- 
habitants of  the  aerial  perch  could  look  only  to  the 
heavens  for  a  supply  of  water.  This  castle  is  said  to 
have  held  out  against  the  Mongol  hordes  of  Timour 
for  three  years ;  indeed,  tradition  points  out  in  the 
plain  below  a  little  grove  of  fig-trees  which  Timour 
is  said  to  have  started  from  seeds,  and  the  fruit  of 
which  he  is  also  said  to  have  enjoyed.  The  entire 
enceinte  is  now  strewn  with  ruins  and  deserted,  sav- 
ing the  presence  of  a  small  Turkish  guard;  but 
what  they  are  doing  wath  their  old  rusty  howitzers 
up  there  half-way  to  heaven  it  is  hard  to  conceive. 
In  the  little  armory  are  stowed  away  several  thou- 
sand Enfield  rifles,  in  a  very  creditable  state  of  pres- 
ervation. 

The  walls  of  the  castle  afford  a  most  glorious  look- 
out. To  the  north,  the  Taurus,  loaded  with  snow, 
overtops  the  lower  and  nearer  ranges  of  Jebel  Tour ; 
south,  the  Mesopotamian  plain,  patched  wnth  cultiva- 
tion and  the  shadows  of  floating  clouds,  and  dotted 
with  little  villages,  rolls  out  its  magnificent  expanses 
till  lost  in  the  distant  haze.  Only  two  ranges  of 
hills — the  Sinjar  mountains  a^vay  to  the   east,  and 


ACROSS   THE   IMESOPOTAjAUAN  PLAINS.  85 

the  Abd  el  Aziz  Dagh  far  to  the  soiitli — break  the 
dead  uniformity  of  the  plain. 

From  the  lofty  outlook  of  Mardin  the  Mesopota- 
mian  plains  seem  as  changeful  in  mood  as  the  sea. 
Often  they  appear  in  exact  mimicry  of  the  expanses 
of  the  ocean,  and  one  can  scarcely  believe  but  that 
the  sea  has  broken  in  upon  the  land,  and  is  really 
washing  the  base  of  the  hills.  Again,  at  evening  the 
haze,  that  ever  hangs  over  the  plains,  transmutes  the 
horizontal  rays  of  the  setting  sun  into  impalpable 
golden  bars;  and  when  at  last  these  are  all  drawn 
back  and  merged  in  the  glowing  west,  an  indescrib- 
ably weird,  sombre,  melancholy  purple  hue  settles 
over  the  scene. 

We  never  tired  w^atching  the  march  of  storms 
over  these  plains.  These  generally  rose  low  in  the 
southern  horizon,  and  then  advanced  toward  the 
mountains  with  what,  from  their  distance,  seemed  a 
slow,  majestic  movement.  From  our  great  elevation, 
the  lower  edge  of  the  clouds  seemed  almost  to  sweep 
the  earth.  As  they  came  near,  flying  scuds  would 
detach  themselves,  and  hurry  along  the  dark  front 
of  the  storm,  as  if  hastening  on  the  heavy  masses. 
The  black  shadow,  moving  with  equal  pace  over  the 
plain,  threw  village  after  village  in  weird  gloom. 
On  striking  the  breast  of  the  mountains,  the  clouds, 
torn  and  whirled  by  conflicting  currents  of  wind, 
swept  wildly  up  the  slopes,  and  stormed  our  cita- 


86  EEMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

del  with  irregular,  maddened  volleys  of  hail.  We 
thought  that  nothing  in  the  way  of  storms  could  be 
grander,  but  were  told  that  in  summer  the  advance 
of  the  thunder-clouds  was  still  more  impressive ;  for 
then  the  lightning,  shivering  the  blackness  below, 
adds  a  wild  pyrotechnic  display  to  the  scene. 

The  town  of  Mardin  has  slipped  out  of  the  old 
castle  walls,  and  now  lies  about  five  hundred  feet 
below  them,  with  its  buildings  forming  a  broad  zone 
that  half  girdles  the  hill.  Thus  towering  above  the 
houses  is  the  embattled  crag,  which  overhangs  them 
in  threatening  precipices,  ready  upon  the  first  jar  of 
an  earthquake  to  hurl  down  its  fragments  upon 
them.  Clouds  often  hide  the  castle  while  the  town 
is  free  from  mist.  Indeed,  so  abrupt  is  the  slope  to 
which  the  town  clings,  and  so  broad  the  zone  it 
forms,  that  frequently  while  snowing  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  city  it  will  be  raining  in  the  lower.  Dur- 
ing our  visit  a  snow-storm  buried  the  higher  terraces 
of  buildings  beneath  four  inches  of  snow,  while  the 
lower  portion  of  the  town  experienced  nothing  but 
rain.  There  are  2:)rospects  of  a  railroad's  running 
near  the  foot  of  the  mountain  at  some  future  day — 
when  the  Euphrates  Valley  Railway  becomes  a  fact 
— and  then,  dou*btless,  the  town  will  slip  down  upon 
the  plain. 

The  population  of  Mardin  is  estimated  at  about 
twenty  thousand.     More  than  half  of  the  inhabitants 


ACROSS  THE  JVLESOPOTAMIAN  PLAINS.  87 

are  Mohammedans;  the  remainder  are  Papal  Ar- 
menians, Chaldseans,  Papal  Syrians,  and  Jacobites. 
It  is  mainly  among  the  last  mentioned  that  the  la- 
bors of  the  American  Protestant  Mission  are  being- 
carried  on.  Here  we  must  say  one  word  respecting 
the  missionary  work  in  Eastern  Turkey.  As  soon 
as  one  becomes  informed  as  to  the  method  of  mission 
work  here,  one  feels  inspired  with  confidence  in 
looking  for  grand  results.  With  a  perfect  under- 
standing of  the  best  means  to  be  adopted  in  the  fur- 
therance of  the  cause — a  knowledge  gathered  by  the 
long  and  trying  experience  of  honored  pioneers  in 
the  same  field — our  missionaries  combine  a  catholic- 
ity of  view,  an  intelligent  enthusiasm,  and  untiring, 
selfsacrificinoj  devotion  that  are  seldom  directed  to 
the  attainment  of  any  object.  They  talk  of  strategy 
in  movement,  and  economy  of  spiritual  power.  They 
have  indeed  taken  complete  strategic  possession  of 
the  country;  the  points  most  favorable  for  opera- 
tions have  been  already  occupied — Mardin,  Harpoot, 
Erzroom,  Bitlis,  and  Van  being  the  chosen  centres  in 
Eastern  Turkey.  At  each  of  these  stations  a  group 
of  missionaries  is  found — gathered  thus  in  groups, 
because  they  have  learned  that  union  is  strength  in 
mission  work  as  well  as  in  any  other  enterprise. 
They  have  discovered  that  the  Biblical  proportions 
are  strictly  reliable — that  if  one  shall  chase  a  thou- 
sand, two  shall  put  ten  thousand  to  flight.     A  man 


88  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

single-handed,  unsupported  by  associates,  can  not 
achieve  half  that  which  he  might  accomplish  were 
he  working  in  an  atmosphere  of  helpful,  concurrent 
enthusiasm.  Finding,  then,  that  it  is  not  good  to  be 
alone,  and  perceiving,  too,  that  the  proposed  plan  of 
work  demands  centralization,  the  missionaries  group 
themselves  at  these  carefully  chosen  centres.  If  we 
speak  of  the  mode  in  which  the  work  is  conducted 
at  one  of  these  stations,  we  shall  give  a  general  idea 
of  the  manner  in  which  it  is  carried  on  in  all. 

At  Mardin  there  are  at  present  two  missionaries 
with  their  families — the  Revs.  Andrus  and  Pond; 
and  also  two  young  lady  teachers.  Misses  Parmelee 
and  Baker.  Their  lamented  associate,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Williams,  died  just  previous  to  our  visit,  so  that  one 
of  the  mission  houses  stood  vacant.  But  the  plan  is 
to  have  three  missionary  families  stationed  at  this 
point.  The  mission  buildings  are  pleasant,  commo- 
dious homes,  occupying  the  most  desirable  site  in  the 
town  of  Mardin,  and  from  their  conspicuous  eleva- 
tion can  be  seen  from  afar  by  the  missionary  return- 
ing from  his  trip  among  the  villages  that  dot  the 
plain  beneath.  Now  the  principal  work  of  the  mis- 
sionaries is  to  train  up  a  native  agency  —  a  corj)s 
of  native  teachers  and  preachers,  and  then,  through 
these,  to  establish  schools  and  churches,  not  only  at 
Mardin,  l)ut  in  all  the  outlying  villages.  To  secure 
this  end  there  is  established  at  Mardin  a  male  and 


ACROSS   THE   MESOPOTAMIAN  PLAINS.  39 

female  seminary,  in  wliicli  young  men  and  women 
are  prepared  for  the  mission  work.  Both  sexes  are 
taught  in  the  seminary,  because  women  are  needed 
to  reach  the  women,  and  men  to  reach  the  men.  Be- 
sides, it  has  been  found  that  a  young  man  can  never 
become  an  efficient  worker  unless  he  have  for  a  wife 
one  who  is  qualified  to  help  build  up  a  Christian 
home :  the  man  is  inevitably  dragged  down  to  the 
level  of  the  woman.  It  is  not  good  to  be  alone; 
neither  is  it  good  to  be  unequally  yoked.  Hence  in 
the  female  department  of  the  seminary  provision  is 
made  for  securing  to  the  young  men  helpful  associ- 
ates and  companions. 

There  were,  when  we  visited  the  institution,  about 
twenty  young  men  connected  with  the  two  classes, 
the  seminary  having  been  established  but  two  years. 
About  an  equal  number  of  young  ladies  were  being 
taught  in  the  women^s  school.  The  method  of  in- 
struction adopted  is  a  wise  blending  of  study  and 
practice:  for  six  months  the  students  are  gathered 
at  the  seminary ;  then  for  the  remainder  of  the  year 
they  are  encouraged  to  employ  themselves  in  teach- 
ing. There  is  in  Mardin  a  school  of  about  fifty  boys 
and  girls,  which  is  wholly  under  the  conduct  of  na- 
tive teachers.  The  church,  which  has  a  membership 
of  fifty  persons,  is  under  the  charge  of  a  native 
preacher.  A  considerable  number  of  schools  and 
churches  have  been  established  in  the  surrounding 

G 


90  REMAINS   OF  LOST   EMPIRES. 

towns,  and  some  of  these  are  already  self-supporting. 
As  fast  as  teachers  and  pastors  can  be  trained  for  the 
work,  possession  is  taken  of  outlying  posts;  day- 
schools,  sabbath-schools,  and  chapels  established,  and 
gradually  brought  up  to  a  selfsustaining  position. 
The  work  of  the  missionaries  at  the  centre  is  to  plan, 
control,  visit,  encourage,  rebuke  in  a  sort  of  apostolic 
way,  and  see  that  a  positive  and  thorough  reforma- 
tory work  is  begun  and  maintained.  Thus  two  or 
three  missionaries  become  the  trainers  and  wielders 
of  a  strong  native  force,  that  touches  the  community 
at  every  point  throughout  an  extended  district. 

Harpoot  is  a  much  older  station  than  Mardin,  hav- 
ing been  in  operation  for  about  fourteen  years.  Sev- 
eral of  the  missionary  families  of  that  station  have 
now  removed  to  Van,  in  Eastern  Turkey,  because 
their  work  at  the  former  station  is  done.  Harpoot 
and  seventy  out-stations  have  been  furnished  with 
schools  and  churches,  and  all  these  are  on  such  a 
footing  that  this  missionary  force  can  be  spared  to 
institute  a  similar  work  about  Van  as  a  centre. 

Evangelistic  labors  in  Turkey  are  generally  con- 
fined to  the  nominal  Christians;  the  Mohammedans 
are  as  yet  practically  inaccessible.  The  only  way 
they  can  be  reached  is  through' the  native  Christian 
Church.  Before  Moslems  shall  become  inspired 
with  love  and  respect  for  Christianity  they  must 
have   a  different  embodiment  of  it  from  which  to 


ACROSS  THE  MESOPOTAMIAN  PLAINS.  91 

judge  of  its  claims  than  that  afforded  by  the 
Armenian,  Papal  Syrian,  Nestorian,  or  Jacobite 
Churches.  They  point  to  these,  and  assert  that  their 
own  religion  is  quite  as  good  as  such;  and  no  one 
entertaining  a  befitting  regard  for  truth  can  enthu- 
siastically controvert  the  assertion.  Not  till  these 
native  churches  shall  exalt  Christianity  in  its  pris- 
tine and  attractive  purity  Avill  Moslems  lose  occa- 
sion for  instituting  these  disparaging  comparisons. 
Under  the  teachings  and  inspiration  of  our  worthy 
missionaries  this  desideratum  will  certainly  be  se- 
cured. 

From  these  matters  we  must  return  to  our  person- 
al narrative.  The  days  were  passing  all  too  pleas- 
antly at  the  mission  home  of  Mr.  Audrus,  when  the 
emerald  hue  that  began  to  overspread  the  Mesopota- 
mian  plains  reminded  us  that  our  long  journey  should 
be  resumed  if  we  wished  to  reach  the  cool  retreats 
of  the  Himalayas  before  the  heats  of  summer  should 
overtake  us.  Accordingly  a  carterjee  w^as  summon- 
ed, and  the  necessary  animals  engaged  for  the  trip 
of  ten  days  to  Mosul  (Nineveh).  At  the  foot  of  the 
mountains,  with  the  town  overhanging  us,  and  the 
wide  expanse  of  Mesopotamia  before  us,  we  bade 
adieu  to  our  kind  friends,  who  had  come  out  thus  far 
with  us ;  and  then,  in  company  wdth  Mr.  Pond,  who 
had  so  arranged  an  intended  visit  to  the  church  at 
Mosul  as  to  be  our  companion,  we  set  off  across  the 


92  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

plain.     At  the  close  of  our  first  day's  journey,  H 

was  unfortunately  thrown  from  his  horse,  and  the 
clavicle  of  his  rio^ht  shoulder  was  fractured.  There 
was  no  alternative  but  to  return  to  Mardin,  and  tele- 
graph to  Harpoot  for  surgical  aid.  Accordingly  a 
raesseuocer  was  sent  back  to  Mardin  to  forward  the 
dispatch,  and  to  bring  us  the  mission  nioffa — a  sort  of 
double  palanquin,  so  arranged  as  to  be  swung  upon 
the  back  of  an  animal,  and  generally  employed  by 
ladies  in  journeying. 

The  following  morning  we  regretfully  parted  from 
Mr.  Pond — whose  arrangements  compelled  him  to  con- 
tinue his  journey — and  reluctantly  giving  up  the  an- 
ticipated pleasure  of  ten  days  with  one  so  well  cal- 
culated to  relieve  the  tedium  of  travel,  returned  to 
Mardin.  A  severe  snow-storm  was  playing  about 
the  castle,  and  before  we  reached  the  town  we  Avere 
laboring  through  quite  a  depth  of  snow.  It  was  a 
nervous  ride  np  the  all  but  perpendicular  rock,  for 
we  did  not  have  an  overweening  confidence  in  our 
mule-poised  palanquin  ;  besides,  Cimmerian  darkness 
had  overtaken  us.  We  w^ere  sincerely  grateful  when 
at  last  we  were  borne  through  a  gap  in  the  walls  of 
the  sleeping  town,  and  deposited  safely  at  the  mis- 
sion home. 

Our  telegram  was  kindly  and  promptly  responded 
to  by  Dr.  Reynold,  who  reached  Mardin  from  Har- 
poot after  an  almost  unremitted  ride  of  forty  hours 


ACROSS   THE   MESOPOTAMIAN  PLAINS.  93 

by  post.  He  was  in  the  pulpit  when  our  message 
was  handed  him ;  but,  leaving  the  services  to  be  con- 
cluded by  another,  lie  set  out  to  attend  our  call. 
Dr.  Reynold's  skill,  and  three  weeks  of  patient  wait- 
ing, restored  to  H the  partial  use  of  his  arm,  so 

that  our  journey  could  be  again  resumed.  Those 
three  weeks,  filled  with  unremitting  kindnesses  in 
the  home  of  Mr.  Andrus,  left  a  pleasant  record  on 
our  memory.  Should  these  lines  ever  meet  the  eyes 
of  those  to  whom  we  owe  such  a  large  debt  of  grati- 
tude, we  ask  that  they  do  not  estimate  by  them  our 
appreciation  of  their  many  courtesies,  but  recall  that 
our  deepest  feelings  oftenest  refuse  to  find  expression 
in  words. 

Respecting  our  journey  from  Mardin  to  Mosul  we 
will  not  speak  particularly,  but  will  simply  condense 
in  a  few  paragraphs  whatever  of  interest  was  em- 
braced by  the  trip.  We  have  spoken  of  the  plains 
of  Mesopotamia  as  being  dotted  with  villages.  These 
are,  for  the  most  part,  Kurdish  settlements,  number- 
ing from  twenty  to  several  hundred  families  each. 
They  occupy  a  comj)aratively  narrow  track  along  the 
base  of  the  mountains.  In  the  summer  of  1871  the 
Lhammer  Bedawin,  coming  up  from  the  south,  swept 
over  the  plain  beneath  Mardin,  and  plundered  and 
burned  the  villages  almost  to  the  very  base  of  the 
hills ;  but  they  were  finally  driven  back  by  the  Turk- 
ish trooj^s,  and  their  chief  was  captured,  condemned, 


94  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

and  afterward  executed  at  Mosul;  so  that  now  the 
country  is  considered  safe  as  far  as  the  Sinjar  hills 
from  the  raids  of  these  lawless  rovers  of  the  desert, 
and  the  villages  are  beginning  again  to  creep  south- 
ward over  the  plains. 

Three  hours  from  Mardin,  among  the  low  spurs  of 
the  mountains  which  are  just  sinking  into  the  dead 
level  of  Mesopotamia,  are  the  interesting  and  exten- 
sive ruins  of  an  ancient  city,  to  which  the  name  of 
Dara  now  attaches.  The  principal  remains  are  of 
Koman  origin,  so  that  Ave  may  believe  the  town  to 
have  been  contemporary  with  the  neighboring  garri- 
son town  of  Nisibis.  The  ruinous  city  walls,  two 
immense  reservoirs,  and  extensive  quarries  are  the 
most  important  features  of  the  ruins.  The  walls 
were  from  two  to  three  miles  in  circuit.  The  site  of 
the  city  is  intersected  by  a  deep  ravine,  and  the 
height  and  solidity  of  the  wall  carried  across  this 
valley  is  astonisliing.  This  portion  still  stands  in  a 
good  state  of  preservation,  being  strengthened  at 
intervals  with  strong  circular  towers.  One  of  the 
reservoirs  is  similar  to  that  near  Cape  Misenum,  in 
Italy ;  the  other  is  larger,  and  roofed  in  by  massive 
arched  masonry,  supported  by  seven  division  walls. 
The  lower  half  is  rock-hewn.  These  Mesopotamian 
reservoirs  are  as  massive  specimens  of  Roman  archi- 
tecture as  exist  any  whei'e  in  the  ^V()rld.  Scattered 
all    over   the    ancient    site   are   fragments   of  walls. 


ACROSS   THE   [MESOPOTxUIIAN  PLAINS.  95 

carved  stones,  drums  and  capitals  of  fallen  pillars; 
but  tliere  are  no  large  masses  of  ruined  buildings. 
The  quarries  just  beyond  the  city  walls  are  the  most 
extensive  of  any  in  the  East.  Subsequent  to  the 
Roman  period  they  were  used  as  Christian  tombs,  as 
is  evidenced  by  the  cross  which  decorates  many  of 
the  rock-hewn  sepulchral  chambers. 

One  short  day's  journey  from  the  ruins  of  Dara  is 
the  site  of  the  Roman  garrison  town  of  Nisibis, 
whose  name  is  preserved  in  the  modern  Nisi  bin,  a 
village  of  about  one  hundred  dwellings,  with  pleas- 
ant adjoining  gardens,  created  by  the  waters  of  the 
ancient  Mygdonius.  The  antiquities  of  the  place  are 
unimportant,  there  being  no  such  extensive  remains 
as  are  found  at  Dara.  Yet  Nisibis  was  one  of  the 
strongest  and  most  important  of  the  outposts  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  Thrice  it  successfully  resisted  the 
entire  force  of  the  Persian  army ;  but  a  fourth  siege, 
conducted  by  Sapor,  resulted  in  the  surrender  of  the 
place  by  the  Romans,  A.D.  363.  Three  centuries 
later  the  Saracens  leveled  the  walls  to  the  plain, 
and  the  once  strong  fortress  passed  simply  as  a  name 
into  history. 

Three  days'  journeying  from  Nisibin  brought  us 
to  the  Tigris,  the  western  bank  of  which  we  followed 
down  for  one  day;  then,  crossing  the  river  by  means 
of  a  native  ferry,  we  continued  our  way  along  the 
eastern  bank  till  we  reached  the  bridge  of  Mosul. 


96  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

The  villages  lying  along  our  route  were  small, 
wretched,  half- deserted  huddles  of  rude  mud-walled 
hovels:  large,  populous,  wealthy — adjectives  that 
Xenophon  found  such  constant  demand  for  in  his 
Anabasis — are  adjuncts  for  which  there  is  no  legiti- 
mate use  in  describing  the  collections  of  miserable 
habitations  that  the  traveler  finds  in  any  of  these  re- 
gions to-day. 

Mosul  was  the  terminus  of  our  long  and  somewhat 
varied  ride  of  over  one  thousand  miles  from  Jerusa- 
lem. This  town,  which  contains,  we  should  estimate, 
a  population  of  about  forty  thousand,  is  situated  upon 
the  west  or  Mesopotamian  bank  of  the  Tigris,  directly 
opposite  the  site  of  ancient  Nineveh.  It  has  an  ex- 
tended river  front  of  almost  a  mile.  Upon  the  south 
and  west  the  city  has  shrunk  away  from  its  walls, 
leaving  a  large  portion  of  the  inclosed  space  unoccu- 
pied by  dwellings;  but  to  compensate  for  this,  how- 
ever, the  town  has,  on  the  north,  overflowed  the  ram- 
parts, and  lies  spread  out  beyond  the  defenses.  The 
houses  are  constructed  mainly  of  unhewn  stone ;  but 
often  the  arches  and  doorways  are  formed  of  wrought 
blocks  of  the  famous  Nineveh  gypsum.  The  courts 
of  the  better  class  of  residences  are  paved  with  the 
same  material,  and  their  spacious  levans  paneled 
with  carved  slabs  of  alabaster,  which  recall  the  re- 
stored sculptured  halls  of  tlie  Ninevite  palaces. 

Mosul  is  one  of  the  oldest  stations  of  the  Ameri- 


ACROSS   THE  MESOPOTAIkllAN  PLAINS.  97 

can  Board  in  Eastern  Turkey.  The  little  Protestant 
community,  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Marsh  did  so  much  to 
gather,  has  a  neat  chapel,  and  forms  a  regularly  or- 
ganized, self-sustaining  church.  The  native  whom 
we  engaged  as  our  dragoman  while  we  were  in  the 
city  was  a  member  of  this  society.  He  had  been  rec- 
ommended to  us  by  Mr.  Pond,  who  incidentally  re- 
marked, "  I  believe  him  to  be  the  most  capable  man 
in  the  dominions  of  the  Sultan."  We  found  him  the 
impersonation  of  Christian  intelligence,  manliness,  and 
integrity.  All  honor  to  those  who,  in  this  distant 
field,  have  labored  to  set  at  work  those  influences 
that  enlaro;e  the  intellect  and  ennoble  the  heart. 


98  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    EUINS     OF    NINEVEH. 

Contrast  between  Assyrian  and  Roman  Ruins. — Size  of  Ancient  Nine- 
veti.  —  Scriptural  Argument.  —  Topographical  Evidences. — Nineveh 
and  Babylon  each  Constructed  on  a  Different  Plan. —Condition  of 
the  Walls  of  Nineveh  when  Seen  by  the  Ten  Thousand. — Their 
Dimensions.  —  Outer  Fortifications. — The  City  Gates. — Mound  of 
Koyunjik. — Palace-mounds  of  the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians. — De- 
hris  of  the  Ninevite  Palaces. — Nebbi  Yunus. — Moslem  Tradition. — 
General  Construction  of  an  Assyrian  Royal  Residence. — French  and 
English  Excavations. — Cuneiform  Decipherment. — Chaldaean  Tradi- 
tion of  the  Deluge. — Nineveh's  present  Desolation. 

The  existing  remains  of  those  cities  built  long  ago 
upon  the  plains  of  Shinar  and  Assyria  are  very  dif 
ferent  from  those  that  point  out  the  site  of  ancient 
capitals  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  There  are  here 
no  imposing  ruins  of  halffollen  temples,  such  as 
crown  the  Athenian  Acropolis,  or  rise  loftil}^  amid 
the  remains  of  Baalbec  and  Palmyra;  no  mighty  col- 
iseums, stately  colonnades,  triumphal  arches,  clus- 
tered pillars,  or  lofty  monumental  columns  tower 
over  the  landscape,  to  catch  the  eye  of  the  traveler 
from  afar.  Standing  on  the  site  of  ancient  Nineveh, 
you  are  surrounded  by  no  such  architectural  mon- 
uments as  these.  Heaps  of  earth  or  grass-grown 
mounds,  revealing  not  a  trace  of  Iniilding,  are  all 


THE   RUINS   OF  NINEVEH.  99 

that  tell  you  that  you  are  standing  where  stood  that 
"  exceeding  great  city  of  three  days'  journey." 

The  material  employed,  and  plan  of  building 
adopted,  in  the  structure  of  these  primitive  cities,  ex- 
plain, as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  the  peculiar  nature 
of  their  remains.  But,  first,  we  must  say  a  word  re- 
specting the  size  of  ancient  Nineveh.  It  has  been 
the  generally  received  belief,  an  opinion  resting 
largely  upon  a  certain  interpretation  of  several  some- 
what obscure  Scriptural  references,  that  the  city  was 
one  of  extravagantly  vast  dimensions,  embracing  a 
circuit  of  fifty  or  sixty  miles.  But  recent  researches 
and  discoveries  have  led  our  most  prominent  anti- 
quarians to  believe  that  the  dimensions  of  the  city 
have  been  vastly  overestimated. 

The  accompanying  plate,  showing  the  mounds  and 
ramparts  lying  opposite  Mosul,  as  they  appear  viewed 
from  a  high  bluff  upon  the  western  bank  of  the  Ti- 
gris, is  from  a  sketch  made  upon  the  spot,  and  will 
give  a  correct  impression  of  the  general  appearance 
of  the  site.  The  quadrangular  inclosure  lying  so 
prominently  upon  the  plain  is  about  eight  miles  in 
circuit.  The  largest  of  the  inclosed  mounds,  called 
by  the  natives  Koyunjik,  is  surmounted  b}^  the  de- 
hri8  of  the  ruined  palaces  of  the  Ninevite  kings.  As 
the  eye  traces  round  the  vast  circuit  of  the  heavy 
earthen  ramparts,  the  question  is  immediately  sug- 
gested. Are  not  these  the  old  city  walls?      Such,  at 


100  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

least,  was  the  inquiry  which  at  once  presented  itself 
to  our  mincl,  and  which  the  impressions  of  the  view, 
with  that  unaccountable  power  which  first  impres- 
sions often  have  over  our  mental  determinations, 
half  answered  in  the  affirmative,  notwithstaudinof  we 
had  always  entertained  the  conviction  that  the  larger 
and  grander  dimensions  given  by  so  many  to  the  citv 
were  in  more  probable  accordance  with  the  truth. 
We  had  accepted  the  view  advocated  by  Layard, 
that  the  four  great  palace-mounds  of  Koyuujik,  Nim- 
rud,  Keremles,  and  Korsabad,  which,  joined  by  right 
lines,  form  a  vast  quadrangle  eighteen  miles  in  length 
by  twelve  in  breadth,  are  the  remains  of  four  great 
fortified  palaces  that  occuj^ied  the  four  corners  of 
the  extended  enceinte  of  the  ancient  city.  Of  course 
such  impressions  could  not  be  admitted  as  arbiters  in 
our  balancings  of  the  question  proposed.  Yet  they 
had  the  effect  of  leading  us  to  promise  ourselves  a 
more  careful  examination,  and  a  more  liberal  enter- 
tainment of  the  evidence  adduced  in  support  of 
views  quite  different  from  those  we  held. 

Such  examination  has  convinced  us  that  those  who 
believe  that  the  mounds  and  ramparts  which  appear 
in  the  plate  represent  the  whole  of  the  ruins  of  Nin- 
eveh rest  their  opinion  upon  evidence  much  more 
substantial  than  that  upon  which  those  who  contend 
for  grander  dimensions  for  the  city  support  their  tlie- 
or}'.     The  popular  opinion  upon  the  subject  is  based 


THE   RUINS   OF   NINEVEH.  IQl 

on  the  statements  respecting  the  size  of  Nineveh 
which  occur  in  the  book  of  Jonah.  There  are  but 
three  statements  made  by  the  writer  of  that  book 
which  throw  any  light  whatever  upon  the  matter; 
one  of  these  passages  we  have  already  quoted,  where- 
in we  are  told  that  Nineveh  was  an  "  exceeding  great 
city  of  three  days'  journey  "  (Jonah  iii.,  3).  The  sec- 
ond passage  which  bears  upon  the  subject  immedi- 
ately follows  the  preceding — "  And  Jonah  began  to 
enter  into  the  city  a  day's  journey."  The  remaining 
passage  gives  an  entirely  different  basis  upon  which 
to  estimate  the  magnitude  of  the  city :  "  And  shall 
not  I  spare  Nineveh,  that  great  city,  wherein  are 
more  than  six-score  thousand  persons  that  can  not 
discern  between  their  right  hand  and  their  left  hand, 
and  also  much  cattle?"  (Jonah  iv.,  11). 

Kespecting  the  interpretation  of  these  passages,  we 
will  quote  Rawlinson,  as  one  who  holds  the  theory 
which  ascribes  the  more  limited  dimensions  to  the 
city,  and  who  above  all  others  has  the  confidence  of 
the  Biblical  scholar.  "  A  city  of  three  days'  journey," 
he  observes,  "  may  be  one  w^hich  it  requires  three 
days  to  traverse  from  end  to  end,  or  one  which  is 
three  days'  journey  in  circumference,  or,  lastly,  one 
which  can  not  be  thoroughly  visited  and  exj)lored  by 
a  prophet  commissioned  to  warn  its  inhabitants  of  a 
coming  danger  in  less  than  three  days'  time."  Con- 
cerning the  expression  "  Wherein  are  more  than  six- 


102  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

score  thousand  people  that  can  not  discern  between 
their  right  hand  and  their  left  hand,"  he  remarks, 
that  if  it  be  taken  to  signify  children,  we  might  then 
estimate  the  entire  population  at  something  over  one- 
half  million;  but  he  would  rather  interpret  it,  as 
most  commentators  do,  as  meaning  "  moral  ignorance," 
and  of  course  embracing  all  the  inhabitants.  He 
then  concludes :  "  If  Nineveh  was  in  Jonah's  time  a 
city  containing  a  population  of  120,000,  it  would  suf 
ficiently  deserve  the  title  of  an  exceeding  great  city, 
and  the  prophet  might  well  be  occupied  for  three 
days  in  traversing  its  squares  and  streets." 

Our  writer  passes  in  silence  the  second  passage 
which  we  have  given,  but  it  will,  of  course,  have  its 
significance  limited  by  the  interpretation  given  the 
first.  The  foregoing,  then,  summarizes  the  Scriptural 
argument.  It  does  not,  indeed,  determine  positively 
the  size  of  the  city,  but  clears  the  ground  for  the  ad- 
mission of  other  evidence,  by  showing  that  the  theory 
which  would  reduce  Nineveh  to  a  city  measured  by 
the  walls  encircling  the  palace- mound  of  Ko^-unjik 
contains  nothing  inconsistent  with  the  Biblical  de- 
scription. 

Before  leaving  this  2)ortion  of  the  argument,  how- 
ever, we  must  notice  the  phrase  "  and  much  cattle," 
which,  in  the  reproof  given  Jonah,  is  urged  as  an  ad- 
ditional circumstance  why  Nineveh  should  be  spared. 
We  are  led  to  make  allusion  to  this  passage,  because 


THE   RUINS   OF   NINEVEH.  103 

ill  recent  conversation  with  one  to  whose  interpreta- 
tions in  matters  touching  Biblical  topography  we 
might  w^ell  love  to  defer,  he  alluded  to  this  phrase  as 
having,  in  his  mind,  a  very  great  weight  in  the  deter- 
mination of  the  question.  The  fact  that  the  cattle 
should  be  particularly  mentioned  seemed  to  him  to 
strengthen  the  theory  that  Nineveh  was  an  extensive 
inclosed  district,  like  Babylon,  embracing  within  its 
extended  enceinte  vast  flocks  and  herds.  Such  an  in- 
crease of  life  within  the  city  walls  would  certainly 
give  greater  significance  to  the  plea  made  fqr  the  city; 
but  the  "cattle"  that  were  inevitably  included  within 
the  crowded  walls  of  an  Oriental  city  of  even  120,000 
people  might  well  find  place  in  a  reproof  whose 
lesson  is  impressed  by  the  destruction  of  a  gourd, 
and  which  is  pressed  home  thus:  "Thou  hast  had 
pity  on  the  gourd,  for  w^hich  thou  hast  not  labored, 
neither  madest  it  grow ;  which  came  up  in  a  night, 
and  perished  in  a  night.  And  should  not  I  spare 
Nineveh  V 

The  writer  of  the  book  of  Jonah,  then,  fails  to  give 
us  conclusive  evidence  respecting  the  dimensions  of 
Nineveh ;  but  the  early  writer  Diodorus  is  more  def 
inite  in  his  reference  to  the  city,  and  states  its  dimen- 
sions as  eighteen  miles  in  length  and  twelve  in 
breadth.  This  statement  made  by  Diodorus,  and  the 
authority  of  the  book  of  Jonah,  afford  the  principal 
historical  ground  upon  which  Layard  depends  for  the 

H 


104  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

support  of  Ills  theory.  Had  Jonah  only  the  definite- 
ness  of  Diodorus,  or  the  latter  the  credibility  of  the 
former,  we  should  not,  perhaps,  be  left  in  doubt  npon 
the  subject.  But  the  unsupported  authority  of  a 
writer  who  is  so  careless  as  to  situate  Nineveh  upon 
the  Euphrates  can  not  be  relied  upon  with  exactly 
implicit  confidence ;  and  if  the  statements  by  such  a 
one  are  found  to  conflict  with  evidence  of  a  positive 
character,  derived  from  inscriptions  and  topographical 
sources,  they  must  necessarily  be  set  aside  as  having 
but  the  slightest  possible  weight. 

The  mounds  of  Nimrud,  Keremles,  and  Korsabad 
can  not  be  considered,  as  the  theory  of  Layard  re- 
quires, portions  of  Nineveh ;  for  cuneiform  students 
have  ascertained  that  the  names  inscribed  upon  the 
bricks  found  in  the  respective  mounds  correspond  to 
the  names  of  distinct  cities,  frequently  mentioned  in 
Biblical  and  inscriptive  history.     Thus,  for  illustra- 
tion, it  is  discovered,  through  these  inscriptions,  that 
the  mound  of  Nimrud  is  identical  with  the  Calah  of 
Scripture,  which  is  alluded  to  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  forbid  its  being  in  any  way  confounded  with  the 
capital.     Thus  in  Genesis  x.,  12,  we   are  told  that 
"Resen    [lieth]   between   Nineveh    and   Calah:  the 
same  is   a  great  city."     And  thus  with  the   other 
mounds:  they  have  been  identified  with  the  names 
of  cities  well  known  to  Biblical  or  cuneiform  monu- 
mental history. — (Rawlinson.) 


THE   RUINS   OF   NINEVEH.  105 

But  what  bears  witli  the  most  weight  upon  the 
subject  is  the  almost  entire  absence  of  ruins,  or  traces 
of  buildings,  over  the  district  of  country  which  must 
have  been  covered,  more  or  less  completely,  by  the 
structures  of  the  city,  if  we  ascribe  to  it  the  dimen- 
sions which  Diodorus  gives,  and  Layard  and  others 
conjecture.  Passing  beyond  the  line  of  ramparts 
which  form  the  great  quadrangle  about  Koyunjik,  we 
find  no  such  traces  of  building  as  we  discover,  for  in- 
stance, scattered  all  over  the  vast  district  that  was 
undoubtedly  occupied  by  ancient  Babylon. 

In  making  reference  to  Babylon,  we  immediately 
suggest  an  argument  that  has  often,  and  naturally, 
been  urged  in  support  of  the  theory  that  claims  such 
vast  dimensions  for  Nineveh.     The  Babylonian  capi- 
tal is  now  all  but  universally  conceded  to  have  had 
an  immense  circuit  of  forty  or  fifty  miles;  this  view 
is,  indeed,  established  by  such  an  array  of  historical 
and  topographical  evidence  that  it  does  not  fairly  ad- 
mit of  discussion.     May  we  not,  then,  it  is  asked,  rea- 
sonably ascribe  at  least  equal  dimensions  to  the  As- 
syrian capital?     Apparently  there  is  much  force  in 
this  analogical  mode  of  reasoning.     Although  this  ar- 
gument is,  to  many  minds,  one  of  the  most  plausible 
that  can  be  urged  in  favor  of  what  we  may  term  the 
Layard  theory,  still  it  is  not  satisfactorily  met  by 
Rawlinson,  who  in  his  single  allusion  to  it  fails  to 
maintain  his  usual  fairness  of, argument.     He  simply 


IQQ  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIREG. 

observes  that  "grave  doubts"  are  entertained  as  to 
the  actual  dimensions  of  Babylon;  yet,  when  he 
comes  to  the  examination  of  that  question,  he  will 
not  admit  these  same  doubts  as  deserving  of  serious 
consideration. 

But  the  following  consideration  respecting  the  de- 
fectiveness of  this  analogical  argument  has,  in  our 
mind,  a  certain  degree  of  weight.     The  area  circum- 
scribed by  the  walls  of  Babylon  was  determined,  not 
so  much  by  the  population  of  the  city,  as  by  the  pol- 
icy of  the  Babylonian  kings.     Their  plan  was  to  in- 
close within  the  ramparts  sufficient  cultivatable  land 
to  support  the  inhabitants  in  case  of  siege ;  and  thus 
Babylon  is  more  properly  spoken  of  as  an  "  inclosed 
district"  than  a  walled  city.     Only  a  small  portion 
of  the  space  within  the  walls  was,  according  to  He- 
rodotus and  Quintus  Curtius,  occupied  by  buildings. 
Now  there  was  not  another  city  of  antiquity — bar- 
ring for  the  moment  Nineveh,  that  we  may  not  be 
guilty  of  a  petitio  2^^'incipu — which  was   defended 
upon  this  plan,  or  fortified  by  such  a  reach  of  walls. 
The  manifest  weakness  of  such  an   enormously  ex- 
tended enceinte  would  counterbalance  the  advantage 
gained,  and  would  not  allow  of  the  general  adoption 
of  such  a  system  of  defense.     The  usual  plan  was  to 
inclose  with  the  city  walls  barely  space  sufficient  for 
the  crowding  in,  in  case  of  siege,  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  immediately  adjoining  districts.     That  the  Baby- 


THE  RUINS   OF   NINEVEH.  X07 

Ionian  kings,  in  the  midst  of  their  stupendous  under- 
takings, should  have  conceived  the  idea  of  pushing 
the  walls  of  their  capital  city  out  to  such  an  enor- 
mous circuit,  that  the  city  might  thus  have  the  means 
of  maintenance  within  itself  in  times  of  protracted 
siege — that  their  genius  for  gigantic  works  should 
have  led  them  to  plan  the  defenses  of  the  city  with 
reference  to  this  end — is  no  ground  for  presuming  that 
the  Assyrians  departed  from  the  more  usual  method 
of  measuring  their  city  defenses  by  the  exigencies  of 
population  simply.  It  has  been  estimated  that  proba- 
bly not  more  than  one  tenth  of  the  space  inclosed  by 
the  walls  of  Babylon  was  occupied  with  buildings : 
and  thus,  without  assuming  any  great  disparity  of 
population  between  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian 
capitals,  we  may  believe  the  smaller  dimensions  given 
to  Nineveh  to  have  embraced  a  sufficient  area  to  meet 
the  ordinary  space  requirements  of  its  inhabitants. 

Although  Koyunjik  doubtless  preserves  the  site 
of  the  true  Nineveh,  still  we  must  not  f:\ll  into  the 
error  of  supposing  that  the  Assyrian  capital  always 
occupied  that  spot.  It  was  a  peculiar  feature  of  many 
of  the  most  famous  capitals  of  the  East  that  they 
constantly  shifted  from  place  to  place,  always  linger- 
ing, however,  about  the  place  originally  occupied. 
The  reason  that  induced  such  changes  have  been  oft- 
en stated :  the  ambition  of  monarchs  to  found  new 
palaces  and  cities  that  might  bear  down  their  names 


IQ^  REMAINS  OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

and  reminiscences  of  tLeir  glory  to  succeeding  ages ; 
or  a  "  superstition  respecting  building  upon  the  exact 
spot  occupied  by  a  conquered  city"  led  to  the  erec- 
tion of  new  royal  residences  and  the  founding  of  new 
capitals  almost  as  frequently  as  successions  to  the 
crown  occurred,  or  conquering  nations  broke  down 
the  walls  of  the  old.     Thus  the  capital  of  the  Baby- 
lonian plains  was  refounded  no  less  than  five  times, 
and  as  many  times  it  changed  its  name;  yet  even 
now  Bagdad  is  called  by  some  the  New  Babylon. 
The  Indian  city  of  Delhi  has  shifted  its  site  nine 
times,  and  scattered  its  ruins  a  score  of  miles  along 
the  banks  of  the  Jumna.     Of  the  same  migratory 
character  was  the  Assyrian  capital.     It  suggests  to 
us  the  nomadic  restiveness  and  love  of  change  dis- 
played by  the  rude  Parthian  kings,  whose  tented  cap- 
ital is  pitched  now  in  the  plain  of  the  Tigris,  then 
amid  the  hills  of  Media.     Before  Nineveh  was  found- 
ed, or,  at  least,  while  it  was  but  a  provincial  town, 
Asshur  (marked  by  the  mounds  of  Kileh  Sherghat) 
and  Calah  (now  Birs-Nimrud)  had  each  in  turn  been 
the  seat  of  the  residence  of  the  Assyrian  kings.    Both 
of  these  cities  were  adorned  with  palatial  structures 
that  were  scarcely  rivaled  by  those  of  any  of  the  suc- 
ceeding capitals.     But  before  the  reign  of  Asshur- 
nasir-pal  had  closed,  Nineveh  had   certainly  grown 
into  importance,  and  perhaps  possessed  a  royal  palace; 
for  when  Sargon  came  to  the  throne,  and  built,  a  few 


THE   RUINS  OF  NINEVEH.  IQ^ 

miles  to  the  N.N.E.  of  Nineveh,  a  new  palace  and 
city,  be  speaks  thus  in  his  inscription  of  Nineveh : 
"  At  the  foot  of  the  Nusir  hills,  to  replace  JVineveh,  I 
raised,  after  the  divine  will  and  the  wishes  of  my 
heart,  a  city  which  I  called  Hisr-Sargina"  (Smith's 
"  Hist,  of  the  East,"  p.  313).  The  ruins  of  this  city  of 
Sai'gon  are  now  represented  by  the  mounds  of  Korsa- 
bad.  Upon  the  succession  of  Sennacherib  to  the 
throne,  Calah  and  Dur-Sargina  were  abandoned,  and 
Nineveh  became  the  chosen  capital.  Suddenly  the 
city  took  on  all  the  glory  that  always  attended  the 
Assyrian  court.  "I  raised  again  all  the  edifices  of 
Nineveh,  my  royal  city,"  says  Sennacherib  in  his  in- 
scriptions; "I  reconstructed  all  its  old  streets,  and 
widened  those  that  were  too  narrow.  I  have  made 
the  whole  town  a  city  shining  like  the  sun."  Esar- 
haddon,  the  son  and  successor  of  Sennacherib,  built 
splendid  palaces  both  at  Nineveh  and  Calah.  If  we 
bear  in  mind  that  all  these  shiftings  of  the  seat  of 
empire  were  not  the  result  of  conquest,  but  of  the 
personal  caprice  of  the  reigning  monarch — were  in 
truth  simply  removals  of  the  court — we  will  under- 
stand how  all  of  these  cities  may  have  been,  as  they 
doubtless  were,  populous  places  at  the  same  period. 
Even  Babylon,  though  overthrown  by  the  violence 
of  conquest,  retained  a  considerable  population  sev- 
eral centuries  after  the  founding  of  Seleucia.* 

*  It  is  suggested  by  the  supporters  of  the  Layard  theory  that  during 


110  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

But  we  must  not,  and  perhaps  need  not,  pursue 
this  discussion  further.  Believing  that  the  ramparts 
shown  by  the  plate  are  actually  the  crumbled  walls 
of  Nineveh,  we  will  proceed  to  examine  them,  and 
the  inclosed  mounds — the  graves  of  the  palaces  of 
the  Assyrian  kings. 

And,  first,  as  to  the  walls.  At  the  time  of  the  ex- 
pedition of  Cyrus  against  the  Persian  king  Artax- 
erxes,  about  400  B.C.,  Nineveh  was  a  deserted  city, 


its  most  prosperous  period  Nineveh  may  have  overflowed  its  walls,  and 
acquired  such  an  ascendency  over  the  other  cities  of  the  district  that 
they  came  to  be  regarded  simply  as  suburbs  of  its  capital,  and  may  all 
have  been  included  under  the  name  of  Nineveh.  This  view  has  been 
illustrated  by  reference  to  the  growth  of  the  city  of  London.  That  name, 
which  at  first  comprehended  only  the  very  circumscribed  Roman  town, 
has  gradually  been  extended,  and  with  the  growth  of  the  city  has  suc- 
cessively absorbed  suburb  after  suburb,  and  town  after  town,  till  the 
name  now  includes,  in  its  most  general  sense,  the  entire  population  ly- 
ing within  a  circuit  of  seventy  or  eighty  miles.  But  although  the  name 
of  Nineveh  may  have  been  so  extended,  at  the  time  of  the  prophet 
.Jonah,  as  to  embrace,  in  a  general  way,  the  entire  populous  district 
studded  with  the  above-mentioned  cities,  and  with  royal  residences,  and 
paradises,  and  hunting-parks,  still  the  absence  of  extensive  ruins  over 
this  tract  will  not  allow  us  to  suppose  that  there  was  any  such  con- 
tinuity of  building  as  in  the  case  of  London,  to  equally  justify  tlie  ex- 
tension of  that  name  to  such  an  enormous  compreliension  :  in  truth,  the 
population  of  the  city — the  most  liberal  intcrj)retation  of  the  language 
of  the  sacred  writer  only  gives  us,  as  already  seen,  600,000  inhabitants 
— forbids  such  a  supposition  ;  and,  moreover,  to  recall  an  argument  al- 
ready suggested,  the  unmistakable  language  of  the  inscriptions  com- 
pels us  to  regard  Koyunjik,  Korsabad,  Birs-Nimrud,  and  Keremlcs  as 
the  sites  of  distinct  cities.  The  above  supposition  is  confirmed  by 
Felix  .Tones,  who,  in  a  very  able  article  upon  the  toi^ography  of  Nine- 
veh, makes  mention  of  the  custom  of  tliose  early  times  to  give  the  name 
of  the  city  to  the  surrounding  district,  or  vice  versa.  Vide  "Journal  Royal 
Asiatic  Society,"  vol.  xv.,  art.  v. 


THE   RUINS   OF   NINEVEH.  HI 

and  its  walls  and  palaces  were  then  fast  crumbling 
into  ruins ;  for  two  hundred  years  had  passed  since 
the  city  was  sacked  and  destroyed  by  the  Medes  and 
Babylonians.  Still  the  strong  walls  had  not  yet  sunk 
into  those  broad  lines  of  earth  that  now  trace  their 
course ;  but  Avhen  the  ten  thousand  marched  past 
they  still  retained  much,  and  in  places  perhaps  all 
of  their  original  height,  for  Xenophon  estimates 
their  elevation  above  the  plain  at  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet.  He  also  describes  the  lower  portion  of  the 
wall  as  composed  of  stone.  The  correctness  of  this 
statement  is  verified  by  the  excavations  which  the 
natives  have  made  in  the  ramparts,  in  order  to  obtain 
the  blocks  of  stone  for  building  jxirposes :  the  bridge, 
already  referred  to,  across  the  Tigris,  opposite  Mosul, 
is  built  of  stones  quarried  from  these  old  walls. 
Quite  a  considerable  portion  of  the  rampart  near  the 
mound  of  Koyunjik  has  been  dug  away,  and  the  open 
section  still  exhibits  the  solid  stone  masonry  of  the 
lower  part  of  the  wall.  From  this  stone  basement 
upward  the  wall  was  constructed  of  large  sun-dried 
bricks,  the  layers  of  which,  in  the  exposed  central  por- 
tion of  the  rampart,  are  still  as  distinct  as  when  laid. 
The  ramparts  are,  in  some  places,  about  fifty  feet  high, 
and  they  average  perhaps  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
in  width.  Diodorus  and  Xenophon  make  the  walls 
respectively  one  hundred  and  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  in  height;   were  all  the  crumbled  material  re- 


112  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

placed  upon  the  stone  basement,  which  is  fifty  feet  in 
width,  the  defense  would  rise  to  at  least  the  more 
moderate  fio-ure. 

The  walls  of  the  city  were  washed  upon  two  sides, 
the  south  and  west,  by  the  Tigris  and  the  Kosr — 
the  latter  a  small  tributary  stream ;  while  upon  the 
remaining  sides  the  defenses  were  strengthened  by 
an  outlying  fort,  long,  deep  moats,  and  lofty  ram- 
parts, altogether  constituting  a  strong  and  almost 
invulnerable  belt  of  works.  At  one  point  five  walls 
would  have  had  to  be  pierced,  and  their  deep 
moats  crossed,  before  an  enemy  could  have  forced 
the  city.  These  fortifications  now  form  heavy  ram- 
parts upon  the  plain.  Their  deep  moats  are  still  open, 
and  the  bottom  of  these  in  many  places  lies  from 
seventy  to  one  hundred  feet  below  the  summit  of 
the  adjoining  walls,  although  these  are  now  so  crum- 
bled and  reduced  from  their  former  height.  The  ag- 
gregate length  of  these  strengthening  walls  and 
moats  is  upward  of  ten  miles.  To  suppose  this  ex- 
tensive and  elaborate  system  of  fortifications  to  have 
simply  guarded  the  royal  quarter,  and  to  have  been 
entirely  within  the  general  defenses  of  the  city,  is 
scarcely  conceivable.  Besides,  there  would  be  traces 
remaining  of  these  outer  walls,  had  such  ever  exist- 
ed, as  the  nature  of  the  ground  over  which  they 
would  have  been  carried  would  have  preserved  them 
from  at  least  entire  obliteration.     That  the  walls  of 


THE  RUINS   OF  NINEVEH.  113 

Babylon  have  entirely  disappeared  is  no  objection  to 
this  argument,  as  the  treacherous  nature  of  the  soil 
upon  which  they  stood  destroys  the  force  of  the  anal- 
ogy, were  it  not  set  aside  by  the  historical  evidence 
which  we  possess  of  the  violent  leveling,  by  the  hand 
of  man,  of  the  walls  of  that  capital. 

In  the  plate  there  will  be  observed  a  small  mound, 
breaking  the  regularity  of  the  southern  wall.  This 
mound  marks  the  position  of  one  of  the  city  gates. 
It  is  pierced  with  tunnels,  driven  into  it  by  Layard. 
There  are  within  the  mound  several  colossal  wdnged 
bulls,  which  were  not  removed  by  the  excavator. 
The  heavy  slabs  of  stone  that  formed  the  pavement 
displayed,  when  Layard  laid  them  bare,  the  ruts  of 
chariot-wheels,  worn  deep  in  their  surfece.  And 
here  is  abundant  evidence  of  the  fulfillment  of  the 
prophetic  declaration,  "The  fire  shall  devour  thy 
bars."*  The  writer  above  referred  to  makes  mention 
of  the  large  quantities  of  charcoal  thrown  uj)  by  his 
workmen  in  exhuming  the  gate.  From  the  walls  of 
the  shaft  here,  as  well  as  from  those  in  the  mound 
of  Koyunjik,  we  could  still  pick  pieces  of  charred 
timber,  which  bear  evidence  as  to  the  element  which 
destroyed  the  gates  and  palaces  of  the  city. 

The  largest  and  most  interesting  mound  upon  the 
site  of  Nineveh  is  the  one  known  to  the  natives  as 

*  Nahum  iii.  13. 


114  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

Koyiinjik.  It  adjoins  the  western  rampart,  so  that 
the  buildings  that  surmounted  it  boldly  overhung 
the  Tigris.  The  mound  covers  one  hundred  acres, — 
(Layard.)  Its  surface  is  somewhat  irregular,  the 
mound  varying  in  height  from  seventy  to  ninety  feet. 
It  is  deeply  scarred  with  ravines,  and  presents  the 
weather-worn  appearance  of  a  natural  hill. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  this  entire  mass  is 
made  up  of  the  debris  of  the  ruined  palaces.  Not 
more  than  twenty  or  thirty  feet  of  the  entire  height 
of  the  mound  is  composed  of.  the  material'  of  the  de- 
stroyed buildings;  the  remaining  elevation  marking 
the  height  of  the  artificial  platform  upon  which  the 
palaces  stood.  For  the  sake  of  greater  security,  and 
to  gain  the  fresh  breezes,  as  well  as  to  give  a  com- 
manding dignity  to  the  royal  residence,  the  Assyri- 
ans, and  also  the  Babylonians  and  Persians,  as  we 
shall  hereafter  see,  lifted  their  palaces  upon  lofty  ar- 
tificial terraces  or  platforms.  These  enormous  emi- 
nences were  always  constructed  with  an  almost  incred- 
ible expenditure  of  human  labor.  The  cyclopean 
masonry  of  the  Persepolitan  platform  which  sup- 
ported the  palaces  of  the  Persian  kings  is  to-day  one 
of  the  marvels  of  the  antiquarian  Avorld.  The  vast 
dimensions  of  the  Babylonian  mounds  almost  exceed 
belief,  and  readily  excuse  the  early  supposition  that 
they  were  natural  hills.  The  mound  of  Koyunjik, 
that  was  crowned  by  the  Ninevite  palaces,  equally 


THE  RUINS   OF  NINEVEH.  Hq 

astonislies  the  beholder  by  its  gigantic  proportions. 
From  its  enormous  mass  of  bricks  and  earth  could  be 
constructed  four  pyramids  equal  to  that  of  Cheops. 

The  upper  portion  of  the  mound,  which  is  com- 
posed of  the  ruins  of  the  palaces,  is  pierced  in  every 
direction  by  the  shafts  and  tunnels  excavated  by  Lay- 
ard,  and  the  surface  heaped  with  the  material  taken 
from  them.  Some  of  the  tunnels  are  now  filled  with 
rubbish ;  but  we  were  able  to  penetrate  many  of  them. 
No  stone  masonry  is  visible ;  but  imbedded  in  the 
walls  of  the  shafts  are  isolated  blocks  and  bricks, 
and  all  sorts  of  building  debris.  Portions  of  heavy 
walls,  composed  of  sun-dried  bricks,  with  the  plaster 
still  clinging  to  them,  are  still  to  be  seen.  All  the 
sculptured  and  inscribed  slabs  were  removed  by  Lay- 
ard,  and  now  nothing  save  the  holes,  whence  the 
winged  bulls  were  dragged,  indicates  the  position 
they  occupied. 

The  most  beautiful  of  the  successive  palaces  that 
were  built  upon  the  great  Koyunjik  platform  was 
that  of  Asshur-bani-pal ;  but  the  largest  and  grandest 
was  the  one  erected  by  Sennacherib,  the  courts,  halls, 
and  chambers  of  which  were  found,  by  the  excava- 
tions of  Layard,  to  cover  an  area  of  almost  ten  acres. 

The  only  other  mound  of  any  considerable  size 
upon  the  site  of  Nineveh  is  that  known  to  the  Arabs 
as  Nebbi-Yunus.  It  lies  in  the  line  of  the  same  wall 
as  that  upon  which  the  mound  of  Koyunjik  abuts ; 


116  REMAINS    OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

and  thus,  before  the  change  in  the  bed  of  the  Tigris, 
immediately  overhung  the  river.  A  large  portion  of 
the  mound  is  occupied  by  the  buildings  of  a  native 
village,  which  has  rendered  extensive  excavations  in 
it  impracticable.  Mohammedan  tradition  points  to 
the  domed  structure  which  crowns  the  mound  as  the 
tomb  of  Jonah,  whom  the  Moslems  believe  the 
whale  brought  from  the  Mediterranean  via  the  Red 
Sea  and  the  Tigris,  and  landed  on  this  spot.  As  the 
Suez  Canal  was  not  then  completed,  it  remains  a 
query  how  the  whale  got  across  the  Isthmus.  If 
obliged  to  carry  the  prophet  around  the  Cape,  the 
whale,  as  well  as  Jonah,  had  abundant  leisure  to. 
lament  that  the  wickedness  of  the  city  should  have 
necessitated  the  visit  of  a  prophetic  messenger. 

The  mound  of  Nebbi-Yunus  was  surmounted  by 
the  great  palace  of  Esar-haddon,  which  in  size  ex- 
ceeded the  royal  residence  of  Sennacherib,  and  in  the 
wantonness  of  luxury  and  magnificence  displayed  in 
its  adornments  even  surpassed,  if  we  may  rely  upon 
the  cuneiform  records,  the  splendid  palace  of  Asshur- 
bani-pal,  which  stood  upon  the  mound  of  Koyunjik. 
The  mound  is  undoubtedly  the  tomb  of  many  monu- 
ments of  a  highly  interesting  and  important  charac- 
ter, which  are  waiting  to  reward  the  enterprise  of 
some  future  Layard.  It  is  thrilling  to  walk  the 
mound  and  think  of  Avhat  is  concealed  beneath  one's 
feet.     Tlie   colossal  human-headed   bulls   still  kee]) 


THE   RUINS   OF  NINEVEH.  117 

ward  at  tlie  giant  portals;  the  winged  sphinxes  still 
crouch  at  the  palace-gates,  as  when  their  master 
passed  them  in  olden  times;  and  within  the  dark- 
ened chambers  are  the  pictured  wars  and  triumphs 
and  labors  of  the  Ninevite  king ;  while  through  the 
sculptured  corridors  are  marching,  in  stone,  the  court- 
ly trains,  as  w^hen  their  steps  startled  the  echoes 
of  the  paneled  halls  thirty  centuries  and  more 
ao-o. 

We  have  already  remarked  that  the  nature  of  the 
material  employed  in  the  construction  of  the  Assyri- 
an palaces  is  what  has  determined  the  peculiar  feat- 
ures of  the  remains  that  they  have  left  in  their  de- 
cay ;  and  we  may  also  add  is  that  which  has  pre- 
served through  so  many  centuries  the  sculptures  and 
inscriptions  that  adorned  those  royal  residences,  and 
which  are  now  the  delight  and  study  of  European 
antiquarians.  It  is  a  matter  of  controversy  whether 
the  Assyrian  palaces  were  more  than  one-storied ; 
but,  however  this  may  be,  the  walls  were  raised  to  a 
considerable  height,  were  immensely  thick,  and  were 
constructed  almost  wholly  of  sun-dried  bricks.  The 
rooms  and  galleries  were  plastered,  or  lined  wath 
burnt  and  enameled  brick;  and  the  principal  halls 
were  faced  with  slabs  of  alabaster  covered  with 
sculptures  and  historic  inscriptions.  At  the  entrances, 
as  if  to  guard  the  approach,  the  winged  bulls  w'ere 
stationed.     Upon  the    destruction    of  the  building, 


118  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

the  upper  portion  of  the  heavy  mud  walls,  crum- 
bling into  earth,  would  bury  all  the  lower  portion 
of  the  edifice,  thus  forming  a  vast  mound,  which 
in  the  course  of  time  would  become  overgrown  with 
grass. 

Although  the  English  have  done  so  m^uch  in  the 
work  of  Assyrian  exploration,  it  must  not  be  forgot- 
ten that  the  French,  who  have  always  evinced  the 
foremost  enterprise  in  such  things,  were  the  first  to 
make  excavations  upon  Assyrian  ground.  M.  Botta, 
the  French  consul  to  Mosul,  in  1845  thoroughly  ex- 
cavated the  mound  of  Korsabad,  fourteen  miles 
N.N.E.  of  Mosul,  and  transported  the  slabs  and 
sculptures  there  discovered  to  the  Louvre,  some  time 
before  the  Eno-lish  commenced  excavations  at  Ko- 
yunjik.  The  indefatigable  exertions  of  Layard  soon 
enriched  the  British  Museum  with  the  disentombed 
treasures  of  the  palace-mounds  of  Koyunjik  and  Birs- 
Nimrud.  so  that  to-day  Nineveh  has  as  good  claims 
to  a  site  on  the  Seine  or  Thames  as  to  one  on  the 
banks  of  the  Tigris.  The  world  has  seen  and  won- 
dered at  the  colossal  winged  bulls,  the  eagle-headed 
figures,  the  lettered  slabs,  and  all  the  mystic  em- 
blems of  Assyrian  art;  and  tireless  scholars  have 
traced  out  the  secrets  of  the  strange  inscriptions,  and 
added  an  instructive  and  intensely  interesting  chap- 
ter to  our  knowledge  of  the  early  empires  of  the 
East,  and  familiarized  the  world  with  the  reliofion 


THE  RUINS   OF   NINE\T:H.  ]^19 

and  civilization  of  the  greatest  monarchies  of  olden 
times. 

What  indefiuiteness  would  attach  itself  to  our  con- 
ceptions of  the  past  could  we  not  view  it  to-day  in 
its  imperishable  sculptural  and  architectural  monu- 
ments. The  very  soul  of  a  nation  is  embodied  and 
embalmed  in  its  arts.  How  plainly  do  the  monu- 
mental remains  of  ancient  Rome — her  roads,  her  res- 
ervoirs, her  aqueducts,  her  bridges,  her  baths — speak 
of  the  practical,  utilitarian  spirit  of  the  old  conquer- 
ors of  the  world.  How  instinct  with  the  sesthetical 
life  of  Attica  are  the  creations  of  the  Grecian  artists. 
How  is  the  Egyj^tian  longing  for  immortality  em- 
bodied in  the  eternal  pyramids,  and  committed  for 
everlasting  kee]3ing  to  the  temples  of  Karnac  and 
Luxor.  That  very  much  of  Assyrian  and  Babyloni- 
an life  entered  into  their  mimetic  and  structural  arts 
is  evidenced  by  the  new  or  at  least  more  vivid  con- 
ceptions which  our  recent  discoveries  have  given  us 
respecting  the  prominent  characteristics  of  those  an- 
cient civilizations.  Thus,  for  illustration,  the  Script- 
ures told  us  respecting  the  latter  that  they  were 
"  mad  upon  their  idols  ;"*  but  since  we  have  discov- 
ered that  those  scores  of  mounds  that  break  the  uni- 
formity of  the  Chaldaean  plains  are  ruined  temples, 
which  were  raised  with  an  Asiatic  prodigality  of 
labor,  and  often  rendered,  in  the  language  of  the  in- 

*  Jer.  1.  38. 


120  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

scriptions,  "  splendid  as  the  day,"  with  an  Oriental 
wantonness  of  adornment,  how  much  deeper,  and 
how  much  more  definite,  are  our  impressions  of  the 
religious  temj)er  of  that  people.  Again,  the  Biblical 
history  discloses  to  us  glimpses  of  the  barbarity  and 
cruelty  of  the  ancient  Assyrians ;  but  now  that  the 
prophecy,"^'"  uttered  so  long  ago,  is  at  last  fulfilled, 
and  the  stones  of  the  palace  walls  are  "  crying  out " 
against  the  inhumanity  of  the  Ninevite  kings,  how 
mucli  more  prominently  does  this  enter  into  our  later 
and  juster  estimates  of  Assyrian  character.  The 
scenes  depicted  upon  the  walls  of  the  exhumed  pal- 
aces at  Nineveh,  which  were  intended  to  perpetuate 
in  honor  the  names  of  ambitious  monarchs,  are  a  liv- 
ing commentary  u23on  the  barbarous,  savage  spirit  of 
those  times.  In  many  of  the  bass-reliefs  the  artist  has 
delineated  the  cruel  tortures  to  which  captives  were 
subjected :  some  are  being  flayed  alive,  the  eyes  of 
others  are  being  bored  out  with  the  point  of  a  spear, 
and  still  others  are  having  their  tongues  torn  out. 
One  of  the  inscriptions  found  in  the  Northwest  Pal- 
ace at  Nimrud  reads  thus :  "  Their  men,  young  and 
old,  I  (Asshur-nasir-pal)  took  prisoners.  Of  some  I 
cut  off  the  feet  and  hands;  of  others  I  cut  off  the 
noses,  ears,  and  lips;  of  the  young  men's  ears  I  made 
a  heap  ;  of  the  old  men's  heads  I  built  a  minaret.  I 
exposed  their  heads  as  a  trophy  in  front  of  their  city. 

*  Vide  Hiib.  ii.  11. 


THE  RUINS   OF  NINEVEH.  121 

The  male  children  and  the  female  children  I  burned 
in  the  flames."* 

But  while  mimetic  and  structural  art  has  contrib- 
uted so  materially  to  the  reconstruction  of  our  views 
respecting  the  old  civilizations  of  the  world,  inscrip- 
tive art  has  thrown  a  flood  of  light  upon  the  obscu- 
rity of  those  times,  especially  upon  the  Assyrian  pe- 
riod. Antiquarians  have  great  reason  for  gratitude 
that  the  ancients  were  so  given  to  the  custom  of 
committing  their  records  to  material  that  could  carry 
them  safely  through  all  the  vicissitudes  and  emer- 
gencies of  time.  Often  their  commemorative  tablets 
were  cut  in  the  face  of  the  indestructible  precipice, 
as  at  the  famous  Behistun  rock,  in  Persia,  and  at  the 
Xahr  el-Kelb,  in  Syria ;  sometimes  their  records  were 
committed  to  the  imperishable  obelisk,  or  written 
upon  the  walls  of  palace  or  temple ;  or  perhaps  they 
were  impressed  upon  tablets  of  clay,  so  manufactured 
as  to  be  almost  as  durable  as  stone.  The  Assyrians 
generally  committed  their  writings  to  the  walls  of 
their  palaces,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  were  paneled 
with  alabaster;  or  to  clay  tablets,  of  which  an  im- 
mense number  has  been  found.  Within  the  palace 
of  Asshur-bani-pal,  at  Koyunjik,  Layard  discovered 
what  he  calls  the  "chambers  of  record,"  or  what  oth- 
ers have  designated  as  the  "  royal  archives,"  or  the 
"king's  library."     These  chambers  were  small  apart- 

*  Smith's  "Ancient  History  of  the  East,"  p.  286. 


122 


REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 


CUNEIFOKM   TABLET. 


ments,  partly  filled  witli  clay  tablets,  varying  from 
one  inch  to  nine  inches  in 
length  :  the  annexed  facsimile 
of  a  tablet  which  we  obtained 
at  Bagdad  will  give  a  correct 
idea  of  the  form  and  appearance 
of  the  smaller  size.  They  are 
always  crowded  with  writing, 
which  is  in  some  instances  al- 
most microscopic.  They  have 
been  found  to  treat  of  an  in- 
finite variety  of  subjects  and  matters — historical, 
chronological,  astronomical,  philological,  mytholog- 
ical, and  some  are  "  legal  contracts  for  conveyance  of 
land."  Respecting  the  importance  of  this  discovery, 
Layard  justly  remarks:  "We  can  not  overrate  their 
[the  tablets']  value.  They  furnish  us  with  material 
for  the  complete  decipherment  of  the  cuneiform  char- 
acters, for  restoring  the  language  and  history  of  As- 
syria, and  for  inquiring  into  the  customs,  sciences,  and, 
we  may  perhaps  even  add,  literature  of  its  people. 
The  docun;ents  that  have  thus  been  discovered  at 
Nineveh  probably  exceed  all  that  have  been  afibrd- 
ed  by  the  monuments  of  Egypt."* 

It  was  from  the  fragments  of  a  tablet  found  in  this 
collection  that  Mr.  George  Smith,  of  the  British  Mu- 
seum, deciphered  the  As.syrio-Babylonian,  or  rather 

*  Layard's  "  Nineveh  and  Babylon,"  p.  347. 


THE  RUINS   OF   NINEVEH. 


123 


THE   DELUGE   TABLET. 


Chaldean  tradition  of  the  Deluge,  which  discovery 
has  naturally  excited  universal  interest.  The  only 
reliable  copy  of  the  inscription,  as  interpreted  by  Mr. 
Smith,  that  we  have  been  able  to  secure,  we  find  in 
a  work  entitled  "  Lea  Premieres  Civilisation  ;  Etudes 
d'^Histoire  et  d'' Arclieologie^  ])ar  Franqois  Lenor- 
manty  To  show  the  remarkable  similarity  of  this 
traditionary  account  of  the  Flood  to  the  Biblical  rec- 


124  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

orcl  of  the  same  event,  we  translate  from  this  work 
a  few  passages,  embracing  that  portion  of  the  inscrip- 
tion rendered  least  fragmentary  by  the  defacement 
of  the  original  writing.  The  tradition  runs  in  the 
form  of  a  personal  recital  by  Sisithrus  (Noah). 
The  "first  portion  of  the  inscrij)tion  is  very  imperfect ; 
but  enough  can  be  gathered  to  enable  us  to  trace  the 
story,  and  detect  its  general  parallelism  to  the  Script- 
ural account.  After  reciting  the  building  of  a  great 
ship,  in  obedience  to  the  commands  of  Nouah,*  and 
in  accordance  with  a  divine  pattern,  Sisithrus  re- 
hearses the  succeeding  events  in  these  words :  "  All 
that  I  possessed  of  the  seed  of  life  I  gathered  togeth- 
er, the  whole  I  made  to  enter  into  the  ship ;  all  my 
servants,  male  and  female,  the  tame  animals  of  the 
fields,  and  the  wild  animals  of  the  plains,  and  the 
young  men  of  the  army,  all  these  I  made  to  enter. 
And  Samasf  caused  a  great  flood,  and  he  spake, 
speaking  in  the  darkness  of  the  night :  '  I  will  cause 
it  to  rain  from  the  heavens  abundantly :  enter  with- 
in the  ship,  and  close  its  door.'  ...  I  entered  into  the 
ship  and  shut  its  door.  In  order  to  guide  the  ship 
toward  the  inaccessible  places  of  the  high  mountains, 
I  committed  to  the  pilot  the  abode  [la  demeure]. 


*  "  Troisi&me  personnagc  dc  la  tridc  suprGmc :  rintelligence  divine 
qui  pCnfetre  tout  runiversc,  et  en  meme  temp  le  roi  de  releraent  liu- 
mide.  C'est, '  FEsprit  parti  sur  les  eaux.'  Nous  reviendrons  jJus  loin 
sur  nom  et  ses  attributions."     (We  reproduce  the  notes  of  Leuormant.) 

t  Dieu  du  soleil. 


THE   RUINS  OF   NINEVEH.  125 

Tbe  fury  of  the  tempest  arose  in  the  morning.  .  .  . 
Bin^^  thundered  in  the  depths  of  the  heavens,  and 
Nebof  and  Saron  J  walked  forth.  Destruction  march- 
ed over  the  mountains  and  tbe  plains.  .  .  .  The  flood 
of  Bin  touched  the  heavens ;  the  brilliant  earth  was 
changed  to  a  desert:  .  .  .  the  waters  destroyed  all 
life  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  [Here  follows  an  ac- 
count of  the  fear  and  lamentation  in  heaven  among 
the  inferior  deities.]  Six  days  and  six  nights  passed : 
the  thunder,  the  storm,  and  the  winds  reigned.  In 
the  middle  of  the  seventh  day  the  tempest  ceased.  .  .  . 
I  was  borne  over  the  sea.  Those  who  had  done 
wickedness,  all  the  human  race  who  had  turned  to 
sin — the  bodies  of  these  floated  like  reeds.  .  .  .  The 
ship  was  borne  to  the  country  of  Nizir,  and  the 
mountains  of  Nizir  arrested  it.  .  .  .  Upon  the  sev- 
enth day  [after  the  arrest  of  the  ship]  I  sent  forth  a 
dove,  and  it  departed.  And  the  dove  flew  away,  and 
sought  a  i^lace  of  rest;  but  it  found  none,  and  re- 
turned. I  let  go  a  swallow,  and  it  flew  away.  The 
swallow  departed,  and  searched  for  a  place  to  rest, 
and  found  none,  and  it  returned.  I  let  loose  a  raven. 
The  raven  flew  forth,  and  it  saw  the  bodies  on  the 
water,  and  it  ate  them ;  and  it  wandered  a  great  way 
off,  and  it  returned  not.     I  let  go  the  animals  to  the 

*  Dieu  de  I'atmosphere  et  de  la  tempgte. 

t  Dieu  de  la  plan&te  Mercure,  qui  jireside  aux  mouvements  sid^raux. 

I  Personnage  divin  d'ordre  inferieur,  qui  accompague  Nebo. 


126  REMAINS   OF  LOST   EMPIRES. 

four  winds ;  I  poured  out  a  libation  ;  I  built  an  altar 
on  the  summit  of  the  mountain," 

The  question  has  been  raised  respecting  the  two 
rival  accounts  we  now  possess  of  the  Noachic  deluge 
— Which  is  the  Editio  prince])S  ?  In  our  view  much 
erudite  discussion  has  been  very  unnecessarily  and 
absurdly  waged  over  this  question.  The  Bible 
claims  no  copyright  monopoly  in  these  things:  very 
limited  portions  of  the  Scriptures  are  matter  of  ex- 
clusive revelation,  though  all  be  written  by  persons 
divinely  qualified  for  their  task.  Much  therein  re- 
corded was,  at  the  time  of  its  commitment  to  w^riting, 
the  common  property  of  the  race.  Considerable  por- 
tions of  Genesis  undoubtedly  rest,  either  mediately 
or  directly,  upon  traditions  handed  down  through 
long  generations.  It  is  altogether  absurd,  then,  to 
suppose  the  story  of  the  Flood  to  be  a  matter  of  di- 
rect revelation  to  the  wTiter  of  that  book.  Such 
were  a  supererogatory  service  of  insj^iration.  Such 
an  event  as  the  sudden  destruction  of  almost  the  en- 
tire human  race,  by  the  waters  of  an  inundation  that 
seemed  for  a  time  to  have  blotted  out  "  the  brilliant 
earth,"  we  may  well  suppose  left  an  impression  upon 
the  imagination  and  memory  of  those  that  survived 
the  disaster  which  neither  time  nor  circumstances 
could  wholly  obliterate.  At  the  time  of  Moses  ev- 
ery nation  must  have  possessed  a  traditionary  (or 
written)  account  of  the  great  catastroj^he ;  it  is  utter- 


THE   RUINS   OF   NINE\T:H.  ;[27 

ly  incredible  to  suppose  otherwise.  The  question, 
tlien,  respecting  the  Chalclsean  and  Biblical  accounts 
of  the  Deluge — Which  is  Editio  princepsf — is  one  of 
irredeemable  absurdity  and  triviality.  If  the  plains 
of  Shinar  were  the  first  abode  of  the  survivors  of  the 
Flood,  then  there  \vas  first  told  the  story,  around  the 
desert  fires;  thence  it  w^as  borne  by  the  race,  as  one 
of  their  most  vivid  reminiscences,  in  all  their  succeed- 
ing migrations.  The  farther  distance  and  time  sep- 
arated any  tribes  from  the  ancestral  home,  the  more 
vague,  we  may  believe,  did  the  tale  become,  though 
it  could  never  be  forgotten.  And  observe  how  ex- 
actly facts  sustain  the  supposition.  How  changed 
and  how  obscured  the  tradition  as  rej^eated  beneath 
the  forests  of  the  New  World.  But  there  in  Chal- 
daea,  among  the  near  descendants  of  the  survivors  of 
the  disaster,  what  vividness,  definiteness,  and  particu- 
larity does  the  story  maintain.  To  our  mind  this 
circumstance  affords  the  strongest  possible  correlative 
testimony  of  the  truthfulness  of  the  account  that  has 
come  down  to  us  through  the  Hebrew  nation,  beino- 
the  weightiest  evidence  of  the  actual  historical  char- 
acter of  the  event,  and  the  most  positive  refutation 
of  the  assumption  of  the  mythical  nature  of  the  Script- 
ural narrative.  For  those  who  would  resolve  the 
whole  story  into  a  myth,  endeavor  to  account  for  the 
origin  of  the  same — for  even  a  myth  must  have  some 
foundation  of  fact  or  suggestion — by  sup230sing  that 


128  re:mains  of  lost  empires. 

the  evidence  furnished  by  shells  and  fossils  of  differ- 
ent character,  found  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  of  the 
land  having  been  covered  at  some  period  by  the  wa- 
ters of  the  sea,  naturally  suggested  the  idea  of  a  uni- 
versal deluge ;  and  as  in  the  infancy  of  the  race  ev- 
ery calamity  was  conceived  to  be  the  manifestation 
of  the  wrath  of  the  gods,  of  course  the  general  apos- 
tasy and  wickedness  of  man  were  the  most  natural 
causes  assignable  for  the  displeasure  of  Heaven. 
N^ow  there  is  no  country  upon  the  face  of  the  earth 
that  is  more  barren  of  evidence  suggestive  of  the 
overflow  of  the  land  by  the  waters  of  the  sea  than  is 
Chaldsea.  In  truth,  the  broad  plains  of  Babylonia 
afford  not  even  the  remotest  su2:2:estion  of  such  an 
event.  How  does  it  hap23en,  then,  that  there  of  all 
countries  should  have  grown  up  and  been  elaborated 
the  most  complete  and  circumstantial  story  of  such  a 
catastrophe?  The  hypothesis  which  would  resolve 
the  whole  into  a  myth  is  thus  itself  plainly  shown  to 
be  too  unfounded  and  mythical  to  receive  intelligent 
recognition  and  acceptance.  The  supposition  that 
the  events  actually  occurred,  substantially  as  they 
have  come  down  to  us  through  different  nations,  is 
the  only  one  that,  to  our  mind,  satisfactorily  explains 
the  orii^in  of  the  Delucje  leo^end. 

The  simultaneousness  of  the  discovery  of  the  key 
to  the  cuneiform  writings  and  the  exhumation  of 
the  Assyrian  inscrii)tions  has  been  denominated  as 


THE   RUINS   OF  NINEVEH.  129 

scarcely  less  than  providential.  Had  it  not  been  for 
tlie  coincidence  of  these  discoveries,  the  Ninevite  in- 
scrij^tions  would  have  been,  as  Fei'gusson  well  ob- 
serves, as  "  mysterious  and  unintelligible  as  the  hand- 
writing on  the  wall  was  to  the  priests  of  Belshazzar ;" 
and  thus  might  have  been  lost,  through  our  lack  of 
appreciation,  the  treasures  we  had  found.  It  was  in 
1805  that  Professor  Grotefend  first  announced  to  the 
world  that,  through  the  study  of  the  trilingual  Per- 
sej^olitan  inscriptions,  he  had  proceeded  far  in  the 
work  of  translating:  the  cuneiform  writino-s.  After- 
ward,  in  1836,  M.  Burnouf,  after  a  careful  study  of 
the  same  inscriptions,  corroborated  the  discoveries  of 
Grotefend ;  then  Professor  Lassen  came  forward  with 
valuable  assistance;  and  at  last  Colonel  Rawlinson, 
as  a  second  Champolliou,  with  the  famous  Behistun 
inscription  as  his  Rosetta  stone,  gave  to  the  interpre- 
ment  of  the  cuneiform  records  such  a  definiteness  and 
uniformity  that  even  those  who  had  been  most  skep- 
tical as  to  the  reliableness  of  the  interpretations  of 
preceding  scholars  were  forced  to  admit  the  genuine- 
ness of  the  alleged  discovery.  We  think  it  is  Dr. 
Fryer  who  calls  this  interpretation  of  the  "  mene^  mene, 
tekel.,  nphcu'sm''''  of  the  cuneiform  inscriptions  a 
"  modern  miracle ;"  and  we  with  him  are  in  amaze- 
ment that  the  unknown  characters  of  an  unknown 
language  should,  without  any  light  being  thrown 
upon  their  meaning  by  any  known  tongue,  be  forced 


130  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

to  disclose  the  secrets  that  tliey  have  held  in  iuviola- 
ble  necromantic  mystery  for  thirty  centuries.^ 

The  revelations  that  have  come  from  the  opened 


*  Feeling  sure  that  many  of  our  readers  will  be  interested  in  a  more 
particular  account  of  the  method  in  which  the  first  steps  in  cuneiform 
decipherment  were  effected,  we  throw  in  this  form  a  few  explanatory- 
remarks  in  addition  to  those  given  above.  It  often  occurs  that  inde- 
pendent workers  and  thinkers,  laboring  upon  the  same  problem,  hit 
simultaneously  upon  the  same  and  correct  solution.  Thus  in  the  field 
of  Natural  History,  Darwin  and  Wallace,  each  unconscious  of  the  work 
of  the  other,  the  one  in  his  study  in  England,  the  other  in  the  forest  of 
the  East  Indian  Archipelago,  gave  to  the  world,  almost  at  the  same 
moment,  the  pregnant  idea  of  "  Natural  Selection."  The  great  discov- 
ery in  the  philological  world  was  made  under  strikingly  analogous  cir- 
cumstances. While  Professor  Grotefend  was  studying  some  Persepol- 
itan  inscriptions  (copied  by  Niebuhr)  in  his  study  in  Europe,  Rawlin- 
son  was  at  work  upon  the  tablet  of  Hamadan,  amid  the  deserts  of  Per- 
sia. Each  solved  the  problem  independently ;  at  least,  each  took  the 
fii-st  steps  in  the  way  of  a  true  solution  without  any  aid  or  suggestion 
from  the  other.  Both  arrived  at  the  result  in  a  strikingly  similar  man- 
ner. "We  will  give  very  briefly  the  mode  in  which  Rawlinson  was  led 
to  his  discovery,  condensing  from  his  own  account  as  given  in  a  paper 
entitled  "  Memoir  on  Cuneiform  Inscriptions,"  Jour.  Asiatic  Soc,  vol.  x. 
The  tablets  which  Rawlinson  chose  for  his  work  were  the  fomous  Be- 
histun  inscriptions,  comprising  two  trilingual  records,  by  Darius  Hys- 
taspis  and  his  son  Xerxes.  He  observed  these  inscriptions  to  be  ident- 
ical throughout,  save  in  certain  groups  of  characters.  There  were  two 
of  these  groups  in  each  tablet,  but  the  last  group  of  one  was  the  same 
as  the  first  group  of  the  other.  This  fact  suggested  to  Rawlinson  that 
the  groups  represented  proper  names— three  Persian  kings,  following 
one  another  successively  upon  the  throne.  Taking  at  random  three 
names— Hystaspis,  Darius,  and  Xerxes— he  applied  them  to  the  groups. 
Fortunatelj'  he  had  alighted  upon  the  right  names,  and  was  able  to  de- 
termine the  power  of  several  letters.  Other  proper  names  gave  addi- 
tional letters ;  and  thus  an  alphabet  was  slowly  elaborated.  And  thus 
the  clew  to  the  decipliermcnt  of  the  cuneiform  writings,  the  most  im- 
portant of  all  pliilological  discoveries  after  that  of  tlie  key  to  tlie  hi- 
eroglyphics of  Egypt,  was  found  by  what  has  been  termed  a  series  of 
"  happy  guesses." 


THE   RUINS   OF  NINEVEH.  131 

mounds  of  tlie  valley  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates 
have  revolutionized  our  ideas  of  the  historic  develop- 
ment of  the  race.  These  disclosures  of  the  j^ast  have 
given  us  juster  and  broader  views  respecting  the  con- 
tinuity of  history,  the  successions  of  ancient  civiliza- 
tions, and  the  relations  of  existing  things  to  those 
that  have  passed  away.  We  were  not  accustomed 
to  look  so  far  back  as  to  Assjaia  and  Babylonia  for 
the  germs  of  our  present  growth.  We  thought  our 
views  of  political,  social,  intellectual,  or  artistic  devel- 
opment as  profound  when  we  traced  the  beginnings 
of  our  arts  or  sciences  or  philosophies  to  the  Greek 
and  Roman  culture.  But  we  failed  to  distinctly  per- 
ceive that  as  we  have  drawn  the  elements  of  our  civ- 
ilization from  them,  so  did  they  but  gather  up  the 
accumulations  of  preceding  ages — developing  and  im- 
proving, indeed,  that  which  was  thus  transmitted  to 
them.  The  various  structural  delineations  upon  the 
hassi-relievi  of  Nineveh  reveal  the  fact  that  the  As- 
syrian artists  were  acquainted  with  all  the  first  ele- 
ments of  Grecian  architecture;  and  that  they  knew 
all  about  the  arch,  which  has  been  thought  so  pecul- 
iarly a  Roman  invention,  is  proved  by  the  arched 
drains  and  doorways  unearthed  by  Layard. at  Nin- 
eveh.* Indeed,  the  Egyptians  and  Chaldaeans  em- 
ployed the  arch  centuries  before  Rome  was  cradled. 
And  ^vhile  the  Western  nations  borrowed  the  lead- 

=^  Vide  Layard's  "  Nineveh  and  Babylon." 

K 


132  REMAINS  OF  LOST   EMPIRES. 

ing  features  of  their  structural  art  from  the  East,  they 
also  drew  from  thence  much  that  the  Oriental  mind 
had  invented,  discovered,  or  thought  out  in  the  vari- 
ous departments  of  science  and  philosophy.  But 
theirs,  as  has  been  said,  was  not  mere  absorption  or 
unworthy  appropriation.  Roman  or  Grecian  genius 
always  transformed  or  reinspired  with  a  new  life 
that  which  it  received.  The  Romans  seized  upon 
the  principle  of  the  arch,  which  had  only  an  obscure 
place  in  the  architecture  of  the  East ;  but  to  them  it 
became  "the  bow  of  promise,"  as  Professor  Carter 
expresses  it :  "  the  bridge  on  which  they  went  over  to 
the  dominion  of  the  world."  The  Grecians  borrow- 
ed, in  part  at  least,  their  mimetic  art  from  the  East ; 
but  they  borrowed  only  to  transform;  for  beneath 
the  touch  of  their  transcendent  genius  "the  hard 
and  rigid  lines  of  Assyria  " — we  quote  the  language 
of  Layard — "were  converted  into  the  flowing  dra- 
peries and  classic  forms  of  the  highest  orders  of  art." 
Fergusson  remarks :  "  Egypt  may,  indeed,  have  been 
the  schoolmistress  from  whom  the  ancient  world  de- 
rived half  her  science  and  her  arts ;  but  the  nations 
from  whom  we  are  descended  were  born  in  Assyria, 
and  out  of  her  they  brought  all  their  sympathies, 
all  their  innate  civilization."*  Rawlinson,  after  ob- 
serving that  Babylon  was  the  source  whence  Assyria 
obtained  the  first  elements  of  her  civilization,  vent- 

*  Fcrgusson's  "  Palaces  of  Nineveh  and  Pcrsei)olis,"  p.  4. 


THE  RUINS   OF  NINEVEH.  I33 

ures  the  assertion  that  "but  for  Babylon  real  civili- 
zation might  not  yet  have  claw^ned  upon  the  earth." 
And  again :  "  It  was  from  the  East  .  .  .  that  Greece 
derived  her  architecture,  her  sculpture,  her  science, 
her  philosophy,  her  mathematical  knowledge — in  a 
word,  her  intellectual  life."* 

Koman  and  Hellenic  culture  were  thus,  we  find, 
the  flower  of  a  most  ancient  growth.  So  now,  in 
seeking  the  original  source  of  the  culture  of  our  own 
times,  we  must  go  far  beyond  the  Tiber  and  the  Ilissus 
— to  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates ;  and  there,  among 
the  earliest  communities  of  the  Orient,  we  will  dis- 
cover the  timid  endeavors  and  the  first  suggestions 
of  the  proud  achievements  and  the  grand  actualities 
of  modern  civilization.  Thus  is  revealed  what  our 
Guizots,  Shedds,  and  Arnolds  have  come  significant- 
ly to  term  the  "genetic  development"  of  history. 
The  relations  of  the  j^ast  to  the  present  become 
charged  with  intelligence  and  meaning.  We  are  as- 
sured that  nations  have  not  sprung  up,  grown  old, 
and  decayed  without  a  purpose;  but  that  whatever 
of  good  they  may  have  wrought  out  has  been  care- 
fully preserved  and  transmitted.  We  are  taught 
that  the  phenomena  of  the  historic  world  are  bound 
together  by  far  higher  relations  than  those  imposed 
by  mere  chronological  succession.  Where  all  seemed 
as  confused  as  the  vision  of  Ezekiel,  there  is  shown 

*  Rawlinson's  "Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  ill.,  p.  76. 


134  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

to  US  a  living  spirit  witliiu  the  wheels.  In  a  word, 
there  is  revealed  to  us  a  divinity  in  history.  The 
events  of  human  society,  which  seemed  to  crowd 
themselves  into  morally  insulated  groups,  or  thi'ong 
along  in  rapid  sequence  without  intelligent  order  or 
interdependency,  are  shown  to  be  the  successive  steps 
of  a  sublime  movement  of  the  race,  advancing,  under 
intelligent  and  far-seeing  direction,  with  unfaltering 
certainty  and  cumulative  riches  of  experience  and 
achievement,  toward  a  worthy  and  justifying  issue — 
a  grand  evolution  of  human  latencies  and  possibil- 
ities, reaching  through  millenniums  in  its  processes, 
and  over  a  world  in  its  outcomes. 

As  about  biddino^  adieu  to  the  scene  of  his  successful 
labors,  which  so  astonished  and  startled  the  world, 
Layard  thus  reflects:  "Some  one  who  may  hereaft- 
er tread  on  the  spot  when  the  grass  grows  again 
over  the  Assyrian  palaces,  may  indeed  suspect  that  I 
have  been  relating  a  vision."  Had  time  completely 
buried  all  again,  and  had  not  ^ve  ourselves  seen  the 
winged  bulls  guarding  the  gates,  where  stationed  to 
sentinel  the  approach  thirty  centuries  ago,  and  walk- 
ed throufrh  the  courts  and  halls  and  chambers  of  the 
palace  of  Sennacherib,  it  would  have  been  difficult 
for  us,  while  tramping  the  grass-grown  heaps,  not  to 
have  been  half  incredulous  as  to  what  Layard  has 
told  the  world  he  saw  within  those  mounds.  But 
after  we  have  paced  the  halls  and  courts,  passed  from 


THE   RUI^s^S   OF  NINEVEH.  I35 

room  to  room  of  the  many-chambered  palace,  and 
from  the  commandiuo;  site  viewed  the  distant  cir- 
cling  ramparts,  broken  by  the  huge  heaps  marking 
the  site  of  the  city  gates,  where  lie  buried  in  their 
graves  of  two-score  centuries  the  giant  wardens  of 
the  ancient  capital,  we  can  no  longer  disbelieve. 
Standing  there,  we  repeople  the  deserted  plain,  re- 
build the  ruined  palaces,  restore  the  crumbled  walls, 
lift  the  fallen  towers,  and  recreate  the  Assyrian  hosts, 
as  in  the  days  of  Nineveh's  glory  they  issued  from 
her  gates,  and,  bound  for  distant  conquest,  poured 
across  the  Tigris  with  all  the  pomp  and  gorgeous 
display  of  Oriental  pageantry.  But  the  spell  is 
broken.  Instead  of  the  noise  and  the  glitter  and  the 
movement  of  bannered  hosts,  there  is  stillness  and 
desolation.  Long  before  Christ  that  ancient  glory 
had  departed,  and  Nineveh's  name  had  been  forgot- 
ten. When  the  Ten  Thousand  hurried  past,  four 
centuries  before  our  era,  the  ruins  were  told  to  Xen- 
ophon  as  those  of  M^spila.  Thirteen  centuries  ago 
the  site  was  the  battle-field  of  the  Roman  and  Per- 
sian armies,  each  unconscious  that  they  were  tramp- 
ins;  the  ashes  of  the  citv  that  had  once  controlled  the 
destinies  of  all  the  countries  over  which  they  were 
wrangling. 


136  REl^IAINS  OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 


CHAPTER  V. 

EAFTING    ON    THE    TIGEIS. 

Our  Kellic^-^Floathig  Down. — River  Scenes. — Rapids. — Historical  As- 
sociations.— Our  Crew  and  Passengers. — The  Captain's  Reproof. — 
Our  Guard  Mohammed. — Praying  on  a  Kellic. — Storms  and  Delays, 
— Crossing  the  River  on  Inflated  Skins  for  Provisions. — Fatalism. — 
Botanizing. — Arrival  at  Tibrit. 

The  rafts  employed  at  the  present  day  in  tLe  nav- 
igation of  the  Mesopotamian  rivers  are  constructed 
in  precisely  the  same  manner  as  those  used  in  the 
earliest  antiquity.  For  a  descrij^tion  of  the  one  upon 
which  we  floated  down  the  Tigris,  we  might  turn  to 
Herodotus  or  Xenophon ;  and  for  an  exact  represen- 
tation of  the  same,  we  might  point  to  the  bass-reliefs 
which  thirty  centuries  ago  were  buried  beneath  the 
mounds  of  Nineveh.  It  consisted  of  a  light  frame- 
work, thirty  feet  square,  constructed  of  poles,  beneath 
which  were  placed  about  three  hundred  inflated  goat- 
skins, which  gave  great  buoyancy  to  the  whole,  en- 
abling it  to  support  a  burden  of  over  twenty  tons  of 
wheat  and  gall-nuts.  A  pair  of  immense  sweeps 
were  attached,  for  the  purpose  of  control  and  guid- 
ance, and  our  "  IceUic!^  as  the  natives  called  it,  was 
complete. 


KAFTING  ON  THE  TIGRIS.  137 

The  greater  part  of  the  rafts  employed  upon  the 
Tigris  are  freighted  at  Diarbekr  and  Mosul,  and  float- 
ed down  to  Bagdad.  Upon  arrival  there  they  are 
taken  to  pieces,  the  wood  of  which  they  are  composed 
is  sold,  and  the  skins  are  carried  back  by  land.  From 
Herodotus,  we  know  that  the  same  method  was  prac- 
ticed in  his  day. 

It  was  early  in  March,  when  the  plains  of  Upper 
Meso]3otamia  were  brilliant  with  the  short-lived  glory 
of  spring,  that  we  loosened  our  kellic  from  the  bank 
near  Mosul,  opposite  the  site  of  ancient  Nineveh,  and 
started  on  our  memorable  float  down  the  Tigris.  The 
swift  current  bore  us  rapidly  along,  and  soon  the 
great  mound  of  Koyunjik,  the  buried  j^alace  of  Sen- 
nacherib, dropped  out  of  sight.  The  low  hills  that, 
on  either  side,  constantly  advanced  toward  or  receded 
from  the  river,  though  for  the  most  part  barren,  were 
occasionally  relieved  by  flowers,  that  at  times  covered 
the  lower  portion  of  their  slopes  with  unbroken 
sheets  of  color.  The  alluvial  flats  of  the  river,  clothed 
with  jungle,  were  green  with  the  fresh  foliage  of  the 
opening  year. 

Six  hours  from  Mosul  brought  us  to  the  dam  of 
Nimrud,  an  artificial  dike  constructed  of  large  blocks 
of  stone  clamped  firmly  together,  stretching  across  the 
river  from  bank  to  bank,  and  over  which  the  stream 
poured  with  considerable  tumult.  Just  before  reach- 
ing the  dam  our  Arabs  landed  us  upon  the  left  bank. 


138  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

as  we  desired  to  visit  the  ruius  of  Nimrud,  now  near- 
ly opposite  us.  We  stood  for  a  moment  to  watcli  our 
raft  as  the  rapid  current  drew  it  swiftly  toward  and 
over  the  cataract.  As  it  plunged  over  the  dam,  it 
seemed  momentarily  as  though  the  boiling  waters 
would  ingulf  it;  but  after  a  few  heavy  lunges  it 
glided  on  safely  again.  This  barrier  is  a  relic  of  the 
earliest  Assyrian  kings.  Arab  tradition  assigns  the 
work  to  Nimrod.  Its  purpose  was  to  raise  the  water 
of  the  river  to  supply  the  irrigants  which  reached  out 
from  the  Tigris  over  the  adjoining  plains.  It  wit- 
nesses the  degree  of  civilization  attained  by  the  an- 
cient Assyrians.  The  construction  of  such  a  work, 
which  for  twenty  centuries  and  more  has  flooded  back 
the  waters  of  a  great  river,  imj^lies  a  degree  of  me- 
chanical knowledge  and  a  mastery  of  expedients  by 
no  means  despicable. 

A  short  walk  over  the  plain  brought  us  to  the 
great  mound  of  Nimrud.  As  the  remains  here  are  so 
similar  to  those  opposite  Mosul,  it  would  be  weari- 
some to  give  a  detailed  description  of  them.  An 
enormous  palace-mound,  with  a  lofty  conical  tell  ris- 
ing from  it  like  a  natural  eminence,  and  lines  of  low 
mounds,  forming  a  vast  quadrangular  inclosure,  as  at 
Nineveh,  are  the  principal  features  of  the  ruins.  This 
mound  was  the  first  excavated  by  Layard ;  and  here 
he  secured  a  ricli  harvest  of  Assyrian  relics.  The 
trenches  ^vhic]l  lie  opened  we  found  still  unimpaired 


KAFTING   ON  THE  TIGRIS.  139 

in  many  instances,  so  that  we  could  examine  the  heavy 
walls  of  stone  and  the  scul2:)tures  that  had  been  ex- 
posed. Several  colossal  winged  bulls  lay  upon  the 
summit  of  the  mound.  Numberless  strange  figures 
looked  out  of  their  half-opened  graves,  as  though  not 
quite  sure  whether  their  resurrection-day  had  come 
or  not. 

The  lofty  conical  mound  to  which  allusion  has  been 
made  is  supposed  by  Layard  to  be  the  ruins  of  a 
tower -mausoleum  built  by  Asshur-nasir-pal,  which 
consisted  of  several  stages,  raised  in  the  form  of  a 
pyramid.  The  lower  stage  was  sujDported  by  walls 
of  solid  stone  masonry ;  the  upper  stages  were  form- 
ed of  brick,  which,  in  crumbling,  have  concealed  the 
artificial  nature  of  the  eminence.  Layard  conjectures 
the  edifice  to  have  been  crowned  with  an  altar,  "  on 
which  may  have  burned  the  eternal  fire." 

The  ruins  of  Birs-Nimrud  have  been  unmistakably 
identified  as  those  of  the  Scriptural  Calah,  which  As- 
shur  founded  when  he  went  forth  out  of  the  land  of 
Shinar,  and  builded  Nineveh,  and  the  city  Eehoboth 
and  Calah  and  Resen  (Gen.  x.  11, 12).  As  we  have 
already  seen,  it  was  for  a  long  time  the  seat  of  the 
Assyrian  court.  The  eminent  historian  of  the  East 
thus  finely  pictures  the  growth  and  beauty  of  the 
public  edifices  of  the  ancient  city :  "  Palace  after  pal- 
ace rose  on  its  lofty  platform,  rich  with  carved  wood- 
^vork,  gilding,  painting,  sculpture,  and  enamel,  each 


140  REMAINS   OF   LOST  ElVIPIRES. 

aiming  to  outsliine  its  predecessors ;  while  stone  lions, 
sphinxes,  obelisks,  shrines,  and  temple-towers  embel- 
lished the  scene,  breaking  its  monotonous  sameness 
by  variety.  The  lofty  ziggurat  (mausoleum  above 
described)  attached  to  the  temple  of  Nin,  or  Her- 
cules, dominating  over  the  whole,  gave  unity  to  the 
vast  mass  of  palatial  and  sacred  edifices.  The  Tigris, 
skirting  the  entire  western  base  of  the  mound,  glassed 
it  in  its  waves,  and,  doubling  its  apparent  height,  ren- 
dered less  observable  the  chief  weakness  of  the  archi- 
tecture. When  the  setting  sun  lighted  up  the  whole 
with  the  gorgeous  hues  seen  only  under  an  Eastern 
sky,  Calah  must  have  seemed  to  the  traveler  who  be- 
held it  for  the  first  time  like  a  vision  from  fairy- 
land."* 

Havins:  secured  some  inscribed  bricks  and  other 
relics  as  souvenirs,  and  persuaded  our  Arab  guides  to 
carry  them  to  the  river,  we  returned  to  our  raft,  which 
our  unconscionable  Arabs,  to  serve  some  purpose  of 
their  own,  had  run  three  or  four  miles  below  the 
mound,  thus  giving  us  a  hot  walk  over  the  plain. 
Our  relics  were  a  fertile  source  of  trouble  to  us.  As 
may  be  imagined,  they  grew  very  heavy  before  the 
raft  was  reached,  and  our  Arabs  threw  them  down. 
A  hachsJdsh,  however,  made  them  lighter.  Then  we 
were  intercepted  by  the  Bedawin,  who  had  conscien- 

*  Rawlinson's  "  Five  Monarchies,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  357 :  quoted  by  Dr.  Smith 
iu  "  Ancient  History  of  the  East,"  p.  288. 


RAFTING  ON  THE   TIGRIS.  141 

tious  scruples  about  letting  bricks  go  out  of  their 
country  without  backshish.  And  upon  our  reaching 
the  kellic,  Abdullah,  our  captain,  amid  violent  gesticu- 
lations, protested  that  the  bricks  would  sink  the  raft ; 
and  nothing  but  a  backshish  would  pacify  him.  That 
increased  the  carrying  caj)acity  of  the  kellic  as  effect- 
ively as  though  we  had  got  a  hundred  new  air-bags 
under  it.  But  we  had  suspicions  that  the  rascal  pre- 
meditated tipping  the  bricks  overboard  sometime  ac- 
cidentally; and  so  we  placed  them  under  our  bed, 
that  we  might  sit  atop  of  them  during  the  day,  and 
use  them  as  pillows  at  night. 

When  again  under  way,  we  glided  on  during  the 
remainder  of  the  day  through  quiet,  pleasant  scenery. 
Just  at  sunset  we  drifted  into  a  broad  sheet  of  water, 
lake-like  in  its  expansion,  where  the  current  was  al- 
most lost,  and  not  a  rij^ple  roughened  the  surface. 
The  water  was  streaked  with  gold ;  and  the  low  hills 
were  draped  with  that  sombre  purple  hue  so  char- 
acteristic of  Mesopotamian  landscajDes.  After  a  while 
the  dreamy  haze  that  the  sunset  had  left  behind  it 
thickened  into  twilight,  and  the  stars  came  out,  and 
looked  down  through  the  calm  atmosphere  with  a 
"soft,  planetary  light."  Lazily  and  almost  imper- 
ceptibly our  raft  floated  on,  our  listless  Arabs  lying 
half  asleep  on  the  top  of  the  cargo,  enjoying  a  de- 
licious semi-consciousness.  Late  in  the  evenino;  we 
moored  our  kellic  to  the  bank,  and  throwing  ourselves 


]^42  REIvIAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

beneath  our  little  tent,  raised  on  the  raft,  continued 
to  float  on  in  our  dreams. 

Early  the  following  morning  we  were  drifting 
again,  borne  on  by  a  swift  current,  that  shortly  after 
sunrise  brought  us  to  some  rapids,  not  formidable  by 
any  means,  yet  affording  sufficient  excitement  to  in- 
duce us  to  postpone  our  breakfast  an  hour,  that  we 
might  enjoy  the  accelerated  speed,  and  the  swaying 
and  writhing  of  our  raft  as  it  went  clumsily  down 
the  roughened  current. 

Floating  down  the  Tigris  naturally  recalled  our 
canoe  voyages  upon  the  Kio  Napo  and  the  Rio  Negro, 
northern  afiluents  of  the  Amazons.  Drifting  along 
the  treeless  shores  of  the  Mesopotamian  rivers  is  very 
different  from  floating  through  the  tropical  forests  of 
South  America.  There  is  verdure  along  the  Upper 
Tigris  in  early  spring,  it  is  true,  covering  not  only  the 
liaivis,  or  alluvial  deposits,  which  are  periodically 
submerged,  but  even  at  times  hiding  the  baldness  of 
the  usually  barren,  sun-burnt  hills;  but  there  is  no 
tree  vegetation — low  bushes  alone  fringe  in  places 
the  river-banks.  Very  different  is  all  this  fi'om  the 
wild,  prodigal  luxuriance  displayed  by  the  tropical 
forests  that  hem  the  streams  of  the  Amazonian  val- 
ley with  their  stately  w\alls  of  trunk  and  foliage. 

But  if  Nature  lends  her  charms  to  the  Amazonian 
rivers,  History  lends  her  fascinations  to  the  Mesopo- 
tamian streams.     No  river  in  the  world  is  richer  in 


RAFTING   ON  THE   TIGRIS,  143 

historic  associations  than  the  Tigris.  It  witnessed 
the  earliest  civilization  of  the  world ;  and  from  its 
banks  looked  down  the  proudest  and  wickedest  capi- 
tal of  the  East.  Could  it  but  tell  us  of  the  j^ageants 
it  has  seen,  what  pomp  and  magnificence  would  it 
show  us — what  hosts  of  Chald?eans  and  Babylonians; 
of  Syrians  and  Assyrians ;  of  Egyptians  and  Medes 
and  Persians ;  of  Parthians  and  Greeks  and  Romans, 
in  triumph  or  defeat,  flitting  like  spectres  across  its 
narrow  valley;  it  would  tell  us  of  the  long  march 
of  the  Ten  Thousand  along  its  eastern  bank;  of 
Alexander  and  the  Grecian  phalanx,  hurrying  to  the 
conquest  of  the  Farther  East.  It  saw  Darius  resign 
his  sceptre  to  the  Macedonian  on  the  field  of  Arbela; 
saw  Persia  again  fall  before  the  Emperor  Heraclius 
at  the  battle  of  Mneveh ;  beheld  the  wearied  and 
broken  legions  of  Rome,  as  at  Samarah  they  per- 
formed the  inviolable  obsequies  to  the  body  of  their 
beloved  general,  the  Emperor  Julian,  and  raised  the 
huge  tumulus  that  to-day  stands  on  the  banks  of  the 
river,  amid  the  ruins  of  ancient  cities :  "What  funeral 
pomp  didst  thou,  O  Tigris,  see,  as  thou  glided  past 
the  recent  tomb !" 

It  was  once  the  great  artery  that  gave  life  to  the 
strongest  monarchies  of  antiquity.  But  now  civili- 
zation has  passed  on  to  another  world ;  and  desolation 
— almost  unbroken  desolation — reigns  amid  the  mel- 
ancholy, grass-grown  mounds  of  fallen  palaces  and 


144  REMAINS   OF  LOST  ElVIPIRES. 

buried  cities.  Perhaps  civilization  is  destined  to  re- 
turn from  its  distant  home  in  the  West — after  having 
been  taught  the  true  laws  of  national  life  and  of  per- 
manent prosperity — and  again  crowd  the  banks  of 
this  river,  not  with  walled  cities  and  fortified  j^alaces, 
but  with  pleasant  villas,  and  break  its  silence  with 
the  stir  and  noise  of  peaceful  commerce,* 

While  our  raft  drifted  leisurely  down  the  river,  we 
had  an  abundance  of  time  to  study  our  crew  and 
passengers.  The  Arabs  who  navigated  us  down  the 
Tigris  were  very  difterent  from  the  Indians  that  pad- 
dled us  throufich  the  forest  of  South  America.  The 
latter  were  children.  We  never  exj^ected  more  of 
them  than  they  exhibited.  They  always  showed  a 
childlike,  restive  activity ;  were  forever  busy,  though 
often  only  engaged  in  braiding  palm-leaves  to  orna- 
ment their  hair.  But  our  Arabs  never  evinced  any 
thing  of  this  childlike  restlessness.  They  were  in- 
sufferably lazy ;  and  we  always  felt  an  almost  irre- 

*  When  the  Euphrates  River  Railway  is  laid,  and  thus  a  reliable 
Western  market  opened  for  the  products  of  the  Mesopotamian  plains, 
there  is  certain  to  be  a  large  and'permanent  population  drawn  to  these 
fertile  districts.  There  are  no  natural  obstacles  in  the  way  of  tliis. 
The  soil  is  wonderfully  and  inexhaustibly  rich ;  the  choked  water- 
courses need  only  to  l)e  reopened,  and  the  laud  would  wave  with  verd- 
ure. Give  proper  governmental  encouragement  and  protection  to  in- 
dustry, establish  proper  communication  with  the  neighboring  countries, 
and  there  are  no  reasons  that  the  valley  should  not  teem  with  a  vast 
population  as  of  old  ;  for,  however  it  may  be  as  to  certain  portions,  we 
can  not  believe  that  the  curse  of  u  perpetual  prophecy  rests  upon  the 
whole  land. 


Ri^TING   ON  THE  TIGRIS.  145 

sistible  impulse  to  lasli  tliein  into  activity.  The 
idea  of  stirring  wlien  one  miglit  lie  quiet  seemed  to 
tliem  perfectly  preposterous. 

There  were  nine  Arabs  on  board  our  raft.  One 
of  them,  Abdullah  by  name,  was  generally  captain ; 
we  say  generally,  for  in  case  of  emergency  every  man 
on  board  an  Arab  vessel  becomes  caj)tain.  The  con- 
fusion created  by  these  sons  of  Ishmael  on  unusual 
occasions — and  it  does  not  require  much  to  constitute 
such  with  them — is  absolutely  inconceivable.  Two 
of  the  crew  worked  quite  faithfully  at  the  sweeps, 
urged  to  it  by  necessity,  for  the  raft  must  be  kept  in 
the  current  and  free  from  the  shoals,  which,  in  case  of 
collision,  would  work  ruin  among  the  skins  beneath. 

Besides  the  quartette  that  constituted  the  crew, 
we  had  three  native  passengers.  One  was  an  old 
patriarch,  venerable  as  we  imagine  Abraham  or  Mo- 
ses to  have  been.  The  venerable  appearance  of  the 
aged  among  Arabs  has  been  frequently  remarked. 
There  are  very  few  exceptional  cases.  Often  we 
have  been  surrounded  by  a  group  of  these  gray- 
haired  Ishmaelites,  who,  as  far  as  dignity  and  vener- 
ableness  of  appearance  were  concerned,  would  have 
made  a  rare  college  faculty.  The  remaining  two  j^as- 
sengers  were  young  men  ;  one  a  fopj^ish  fellow — for 
the  exquisite  is  no  local  phenomenon,  but  a  cosmo- 
politan character.  This  trio,  in  delicious  oblivion  of 
every  thing  around,  would  lie  on  top  of  the  cargo 


14(3  REMAINS   OF  LOST  ElklPIRES. 

the  entire  day,  with  the  sun  burning  straight  in 
their  faces.  Such  deportment  was  exactly  in  accord- 
ance with  Abdullah's  notions  of  the  proprieties  of 
passengers ;  and  he  often  pointed  to  their  torpid 
masses  while  rej^roving  us  for  rushing  about  over 
the  raft  in  quest  of  exercise  or  a  good  look-out  for 
some  new  attraction  along  the  bank  of  the  river. 
^''Hewash!  Tiewash  P''  he  would  say,  as  he  felt  the 
quivering  of  the  raft  when  we  were  on  the  move. 
But  we,  not  knowing  that  the  chafing  of  the  poles 
upon  the  skins  beneath  might  injure  them,  did  not 
appreciate  the  necessity  of  kee2:)ing  quiet,  and  so  did 
not  at  first  understand  his  injunction.  We  asked 
him  what  he  meant  by  '■'■  Jiewash,^''  for  that  was  a 
word  not  yet  in  our  Arabic  vocabulary.  A  French- 
man in  answer  to  such  a  question  would  have  rolled 
out  a  perfect  stream  of  explanations,  profoundly  in- 
comj^rehensible.  But  Abdullah,  though  an  Arab, 
had  more  sense.  He  folded  his  arms,  and  walked 
with  steps  light  and  soft  as  a  kitten's  across  the  raft. 
We  laughed,  and  promised  to  walk  ^Hiewash''''  in  the 
future.  But  we  w^ould  forget ;  and  in  such  moments 
of  thoughtlessness,  induced  by  some  new  object  or 
view,  while  rushing  from  one  end  of  the  kellic  to  the 
other,  and  making  the  whole  quiver  frantically,  as 
though  a  young  earthquake  were  laboring  beneath 
it,  we  would  hear  the  subdued  notes  of  Abdullah's 
voice  —  "  heioash  !   liewash  .'"  —  and   lookiuo;    about 


RAFTING   ON  THE   TIGRIS.  147 

would  catch  his  countenance,  covered  with  a  look  of 
inexpressible  disgust  that  we  should  not  be  able  to  lie 
down  and  keep  quiet  like  the  rest  of  the  passengers. 

Our  ninth  Arab  was  Mohammed,  a  contemplative 
son  of  Islam,  who  constituted  our  guard,  and  was, 
accordingly,  accompanied  by  a  long,  crazy,  rusty  old 
Hint-lock — an  "  eternity  of  a  gun,"  as  Mark  Twain 
would  describe  it — and  several  ancient  revolvers. 
Mohammed  was  constantly  flashing  the  powder  in 
the  pan  of  his  old  flint-lock,  we  suppose  simply  to 
see  if  the  thing  Avould  be  likely  to  go  off  wdien 
he  wanted  it.  His  business  was  to  protect  us  and 
the  cargo  from  the  wild  Bedawin.  Under  such  pro- 
tection we  floated  serenely  down  the  river,  through 
all  kinds  of  tribes,  and  never  once  knew  what  fear 
Avas  during  the  entire  journey.  We  took  a  great  lik- 
ing to  Mohammed,  and  he  to  us.  He  was  always 
ready  to  accompany  us  whenever  we  wished  to  make 
an  excursion  from  the  raft  to  some  old  mound ;  and 
often  he  carried  heavy  loads  of  inscribed  bricks  and 
relics  back  to  the  river — under  the  stimulus  of  a 
bachsMsIi  of  course — while  we  relieved  him  of  his 
old  flint-lock,  for  he  w^ould  never  step  ashore  without 
that. 

Mohammed  was  a  good  Moslem  withal.  He  Avas 
the  only  one  of  the  crew,  indeed,  who  attended  reg- 
ularly and  conscientiously  to  his  daily  devotions. 
(There  is  quite  as  much  diversity  of  practice  respect- 

1j 


148  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

ing  sncli  matters  among  Mohammedans  as  among 
Christians.)  When  the  hour  for  prayer  came,  he 
would  mount  to  the  top  of  the  cargo,  spread  his 
blanket,  and  kneeling  upon  it,  with  his  face  turned 
toward  the  Keblah  of  his  faith,  perform  his  prostra- 
tions with  becoming  reverence.  But  Mohammed 
found  j^raying  on  a  kellic  attended  with  difficulties. 
The  river  was  winding,  and  during  the  course  of  one 
of  Mohammed's  long  prayers  the  current  would 
swino;  the  raft  around,  causins;  him  to  face  successive- 
ly  all  points  of  the  compass.  But  Mohammed  soon 
learned  to  keep  an  eye  to  his  bearings,  and,  by  mak- 
ing sundry  shifts,  managed  to  keep  an  approximate 
heading  toward  the  holy  city.  After  a  while  he 
adopted  a  somewhat  different  course.  He  would 
vary  the  hours  of  prayer  a  little,  just  sufficient  to  ac- 
commodate them  to  the  reaches  of  the  river,  always 
commencino;  his  devotions  as  the  raft  started  on  a 
long  stretch. 

The  second  day  we  reached  the  enormous  mounds 
of  Kileh-Sherghat,  which  preserve  the  site  of  Asshur, 
another  of  the  great  and  famous  cities  of  Assyria. 
These  ruins  are  about  forty  miles  distant  from  Nine- 
veh in  a  direct  line.  The  principal  mound,  which 
immediately  overhangs  the  Tigris,  Avith  a  height 
above  the  plain  of  one  hundred  feet,  is  between  two 
and  three  miles  in  circumference,  being  one  of  the 
largest  in  either  Assyiiu  or  Babylonia.     As  at  Nine- 


RAFTING   ON   THE   TIGRIS.  149 

veil  and  Caluh,  long  lines  of  crumbled  ramparts  trace 
out  the  old  city  walls.  Rising  from  the  platform  is 
a  vast  cone  similar  to  that  at  Nimrud.  It  consti- 
tutes the  most  imposing  feature  of  the  ruins.  Upon 
this  spot  Shamas-Vul,  king  of  Chaldsea,  erected  a  tem- 
ple eighteen  centuries  before  our  era.  Afterward, 
upon  the  independence  of  Assyria,  it  became,  prob- 
ably, the  first  capital  city  of  that  empire.  Four  cent- 
uries B.C.,  when  the  Greeks  under  Xenophon  passed 
the  site,  Asshur  was  an  "  ancient  city ;"  the  historian 
describes  the  ruins  under  the  name  of  Larissa.* 

Upon  the  third  day  from  Mosul  trouble  began  to 
loom  u])  on  all  sides.  A  strong  east  wind,  which 
filled  the  air  with  an  impalpable  dust,  raised  such  a 
heavy  swell  on  the  river  that  we  were  compelled  to 
moor  beneath  the  shelter  of  the  bank;  for  a  Tigris 
kellic,  drawing  but  little  water,  is  liable  in  a  heavy 
wind  to  be  drifted  upon  the  sand-bars  that  obstruct 
the  river,  and  the  skins  beneath  torn  loose  and 
broken.  Again  upon  the  fourth  day,  after  we  had 
run  about  an  hour,  the  rising  wind  forced  us  to  moor 
our  raft.  All  this  delay  appeared  a  matter  of  per- 
fect indifference  to  our  Arabs.  It  was  perfectly  ex- 
asperating to  see  how  easy  it  was  for  them  to  wait. 
For  us  it  was  stupid  business ;  besides,  our  delay  was 

*  Vide  Layard's  "Nineveli  and  its  Remains,"  vol.  i.,  p.  27,  et  seq.  ; 
Rawlinson's  "Ancient  Monarcbies,"  vols.  i.  and  il,  passim;  Smith's 
"  Ancient  History  of  the  East,"  p.  25^. 


150  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

creatinor  a  serious  embarrassment  in  our  commissariat 
department.  We  bad  secured  supplies  at  Mosul  for 
only  four  or  five  days,  that  being  the  usual  time  con- 
sumed in  a  voyage  to  Bagdad ;  and  now  the  expira- 
tion of  that  time  found  us  scarcely  half  way  down 
the  river.  Our  Arabs  ripj^ed  open  a  bag  of  wheat, 
and  boiling  the  grain  with  a  quantity  of  greens  gath- 
ered along  the  shore,  seemed  quite  satisfied  and  con- 
tented. Driven  to  it  by  hunger,  we  at  last  prepared 
a  similar  dish :  there  may  be  worse  concoctions  than 
boiled  wheat  and  greens,  but  we  don't  believe  it. 

During  the  third  day  of  our  detention,  the  storm 
not  abating,  "sve  persuaded  our  natives  to  attempt  to 
obtain  some  provisions  from  an  encampment  of  Bed- 
awin  on  the  opposite  bank.  One  of  the  crew,  with 
his  clothes  tied  in  a  bundle  on  his  head,  mounted  an 
inflated  skin  and  kicked  his  way  across  the  river. 
After  an  absence  of  half  a  day,  he  returned  with  sev- 
eral cakes  of  unpalatable  bread,  made  of  pounded 
grain,  mixed  into  a  mass  of  imleavened  dough,  and 
half  cooked  in  the  ashes  of  the  camp-fire.  The  next 
day  we  lay  moored  to  the  bank,  subsisting  mainly 
on  hope,  with  just  a  little  of  that  abominable  Arab 
bread. 

We  miglit  liavc  fioatod  on  during  this  last  after- 
noon ;  but  our  Arabs  had  a  nice  fire  on  shore,  with  a 
reserved  pile  of  di-ift-wood,  and  Avcre  enjoying  them- 
selves in  cooking  and  eating  tlieir  miserable  wheat 


RAFTING   ON  THE   TIGRIS.  ;[51 

and  greens,  and  so  could  not  be  persuaded  to  go  on. 
Uj^on  our  expostulating  with  Abdullah,  he  raised 
his  eyes  and  hands  piously  to  heaven,  and  said,  "^^- 
laliu  aniar  " — "  Allah  has  willed  it."  His  fiitalism, 
good  for  nothing  else,  always  served  him  a  good  turn 
on  such  occasions.  The  very  fact  that  he  had  spent 
a  whole  day  sitting  on  his  haunches  eating  wheat 
and  greens  \six^  prima  facie  evidence  that  such  a  dis- 
position of  the  day  by  himself  had  been  eternally  de- 
creed. Allah  had  predestinated  another  day  for  us 
on  that  spot,  for  the  next  evening  found  us  still 
moored  to  the  bank,  and  tliat  was  proof  enough  to 
the  minds  of  our  Arabs  that  Allah  had  willed  it, 
and  that  it  was  all  right. 

During  our  delay  we  spent  a  large  portion  of  our 
time  botanizino;  along;  the  bank.  The  flora  of  the 
Mesopotamian  plains  is  very  similar  to  our  own. 
Upon  one  short  excursion  "\ve  gathered  twenty  spe- 
cies, all  of  which  belonged  to  genera  familiar  to  us, 
and  five  were  identical  with  American  home  species. 
Those  plains  in  early  spi'ing,  before  blasted  by  the 
heat  of  sunmier,  resemble  our  own  flower-strewn 
meadows  and  pasture-lands ;  only  Flora  scatters  her 
treasures  over  the  Eastern  fields  with  a  fairer  and 
more  extravagant  profusion.  Before  we  had  crossed 
them  we  could  not  help  being  incredulous  when  Lay- 
ard  told  us  that  the  dogs,  returning  from  hunting, 
"  issued  from   the  long   grass   dyed   red,  yellow,  or 


152  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

blue,  according  to  tlie  flowers  through  which  they 
had  last  forced  their  way."  But  it  is  a  literal  fact: 
upon  returning  from  our  botanizing  excursions,  we 
would  find  ourselves  dyed  to  our  knees  in  the  same 
manner. 

The  seventh  day  the  decrees  w^ere  in  our  favor; 
for  our  Arabs  were  constrained  to  cast  loose  and 
drift  with  the  current.  A  few  hours  brought  us  to 
the  village  of  Tibrit,  the  miserable  representative  of 
a  large  city  wdiich  occupied  the  site  during  the  gold- 
en age  of  the  Caliphs.  x\t  this  poverty-stricken  vil- 
lage our  Arabs  persisted  in  spending  the  entire  day 
following  our  arrival.  Our  voyage  must  have  been 
commenced  under  the  inauspicious  conjunction  of  all 
ill-fated  stars,  for  while  moored  befoi'e  Tibrit  w-e 
were  doomed  to  see  other  rafts  go  sailing  gayly  past 
us  down  the  river.  Our  delays  were  more  vexatious 
than  they  otherwise  would  have  been,  had  not  our 
contemplated  tour  in  Persia  depended  upon  our  early 
arrival  at  Bagdad,  before  the  increasing  heat  of  the 
season  should  render  such  an  undertaking  imprac- 
ticable. The  worst  infliction  upon  a  traveler  of 
which  we  can  conceive  is  to  make  a  much-antici- 
pated tour  dependent  on  timely  arrival  at  a  certain 
destination,  and  tlicii  put  him  on  a  raft  subjected  to 
the  caprices  of  an  Aralj  crew. 


RAFTING   ON  THE   TIGRIS.  153 


CHAPTER   VI 

RAFTING    ON    THE   TIGRIS CONCLUDED. 

An  Unpremeditated  Start. — Attempts  to  Stop  the  Runaway  Raft. — 
Rapid  Progress  toward  Bagdad.— A  Fearful  Night  Voyage. — Shoot- 
ing Rapids  in  the  Darkness. — A  Narrow  Escape. — Aground  on  a 
Submerged  Island. — Our  Scattered  Crew. — Arabs  as  Swimmers. — 
An  Exciting  Landing. — Carried  Ashore. — Backshish. — Repairing  the 
Shattered  Kellic. — Arab  Village  of  Samarah. — The  Minaret. — Exten- 
sive Ruins. — An  Arab  Settlement. — Resume  our  Voyage. — A  Na- 
tive's Way  of  Taking  Passage. — The  Valley  of  the  Tigris. — Baby- 
lonia a  Gift  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates. — Its  Present  Desolation. — 
Change  in  the  Bed  of  the  Tigris. — Scenes  along  the  River. — Arab 
Villages. — Great  Width  of  the  Tigris.— Saratia. — A  Village  Under- 
mined. 

Wednesday  was  thus  passed  at  Tibrit.  Our  cap- 
tain bad  assured  us  tbat  on  Thursday  morning 
we  should  resume  our  journey;  but  we  were  fated 
to  take  an  earlier  start.  The  river  rose  rapidly  on 
Wednesday  afternoon,  and  by  evening  presented  a 
swollen,  turbulent  appearance.  About  an  hour  before 
midnight  the  wind  arose,  blowing  in  fitful  gusts  from 
the  east ;  and  soon  the  swell  i-aised  on  the  river, 
united  with  the  strength  of  the  curreut,  tore  us  loose 
from  our  fastenings.  We  were  sleeping  on  the  raft, 
while  our  Arabs,  with  the  exception  of  Mohammed, 
were  upon  the  bank. 


154  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

Mohammed  gave  the  alarna,  and  a  frantic  eflort 
was  made  to  remoor  the  raft ;  but  the  hawsers  were 
jerked  away,  and  we  commenced  driving  along  the 
shore  at  a  rapid  rate.  Seeing  the  folly  of  further  at- 
tempt to  stop  the  kellic,  impelled  onward  by  such  a 
maddened  current,  two  of  the  crew  sprang  aboard,  in 
order  to  manage  the  sweeps,  and  if  possible  moor  the 
raft  at  some  favorable  point  down  the  river. 

Sweeping  on  for  several  miles,  we  reached  a  shelv- 
ing shore,  and  our  Arabs  attempted  to  land,  but 
were  perfectly  powerless  to  control  the  raft,  which, 
with  the  momentum  of  a  heavy  load  and  rapid  mo- 
tion, struck  violently  against  and  chafed  along  the 
bank.  A  large  number  of  the  inflated  skins  that 
supported  the  kellic  were  broken,  and  the  water  rose 
several  inches  over  the  raft.  Swinging  off,  we  again 
rushed  on.  A  little  farther  down  another  effort  to 
moor  the  runaway  raft  only  resulted  in  our  striking 
the  bank  lieavily,  and  ruining  many  of  the  skins, 
which  exploded  with  a  dull  intonation,  followed  by 
the  gurgling  of  the  escaping  air.  At  this  juncture, 
Mohammed,  without  stopping  to  i-eflect  that  all 
things  were  in-evocably  decreed,  took  matters  in  his 
own  hands,  and  leaping  into  the  water  before  the 
raft  had  swung  fjir  from  tlu^  bank,  succeeded  in 
reaching  the  shore. 

Up  to  this  time  wv  liad  not  left  our  tent,  as  we 
thought  tlie  affair  would  result   in   nothing  serious; 


RAFTING   ON   THE   TIGRIS.  155 

9 

on  the  contrary,  we  were  rather  enjoying  the  idea  of 
going  on  toward  Bagdad  at  such  a  gratifying  rate, 
and  were  congratulating  ourselves  on  a  speedy  arrival 
there.  But  this  last  collision  with  the  bank  aroused 
us  to  the  fact  that  matters  were  growing  critical. 
The  raft  had  sunk  over  a  foot,  and  the  heavy  bur- 
den of  grain  threatened  to  sink  the  whole,  like  a 
stone,  to  the  bottom  of  the  river.  Hastily  wrap2:)ing 
our  blankets  about  us,  we  climbed  to  the  top  of  the 
cai'go,  dragging  our  trunks  up  after  us,  that  we  might 
have  them  to  use  as  buoys  in  case  the  kellic  went 
down.  Our  situation  was  gloomy  enough.  It  was 
storming,  with  a  heavy  east  wind  sweeping  over  the 
river;  and  the  darkness  was  so  thick  that  we  could 
with  difficulty  descry  the  bank  driving  rapidly  past 
us.  The  howling  of  jackals,  loud  and  continuous  as 
they  answered  one  another  from  the  opposite  banks 
of  the  river,  rendered  the  gloom  still  more  dismal 
and  foreboding. 

For  more  than  Uvo  hours  our  raft  swept  on  down 
through  the  darkness,  which  was  relieved  only  by 
occasional  gleams  of  lightning.  Then  we  were 
brought  to  a  portion  of  the  fiver  which  was  bound- 
ed on  the  left  by  high  cliffs,  where  the  current  was 
broken  by  sunken  rocks.  We  could  hear  the  roar 
of  the  turmoiled  rivei",  and  just  ahead  see  the  gleam 
of  the  whitened  waters.  In  a  moment  we  were 
swept  under  the  cliff",  and  almost  immediately  struck. 


156  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

Many  of  our  life-preservers — for  such  tbe  inflated 
skins  were  now  to  us — exploded  beneath  us,  and,  as 
the  air  escaped  with  a  dismal,  gurgling  sound,  the 
raft  settled  several  inches  lower  in  the  water.  Free- 
ing itself  in  a  moment,  the  kellic  was  again  rushing 
on  wdth  fearful  rapidity.  Just  ahead  the  waters  are 
breaking  about  another  projecting  rock.  Involun- 
tarily we  hold  our  breath.  In  a  moment  there  is  a 
crash.  The  raft  is  driven  into  the  form  of  a  trape- 
zoid. There  is  a  twisting  and  snapping  of  cords  and 
poles,  and  at  the  same  time  the  water  is  thrown  up 
by  the  explosions  beneath,  as  though  we  had  driven 
against  a  hundred  torpedoes.  A  momentary  pause, 
a  reeling  and  w^hirling  and  settling  of  the  shattered 
mass,  and  again  w^e  plunge  wildly  on,  with  the  swift- 
ness of  an  arrow,  toward  another  rock.  Should  we 
strike  while  leaping  down  with  this  frightful  mo- 
mentum we  must  go  to  pieces.  In  an  instant  we 
dash  past,  just  grazing  it;  yet  the  slight  contact 
causes  our  heavy  raft  to  spin  round  and  round  on 
the  maddened  waters  like  a  toy.  Thank  God,  w^e 
are  now  down  the  rapids  and  float  in  smoother 
water. 

Below  these  obstructions  the  current,  though  swift, 
was  steady  and  unbroken,  and  the  threatening  clifts 
dropped  down  into  a  low  shore,  scarcely  discernible 
through  the  darkness.  Now  that  the  river  flowed 
more  quietly,  we  could  hear  again  the  mournful  cry 


RAFTING   ON  THE   TIGRIS.  I57 

of  the  jackals  from  the  banks.  Our  shattered  raft 
was  half  submerged,  the  water  covering  the  lower 
tier  of  bags  of  wheat,  and  it  seemed  as  though  the 
skins  that  still  supported  us  were  about  to  drop 
their  heavy  load.  Never  did  shipwrecked  voyagers 
long  more  anxiously  for  the  day  than  we  watched 
the  darkened  sky  for  the  first  appearance  of  light. 

When  at  length  the  morning  came,  we  found  our- 
selves drifting  between  low  banks,  with  occasional 
clusters  of  mud  huts  and  numei'ous  black  tents  of 
the  Bedawin  in  sight.  About  an  hour  after  sunrise 
we  grounded  on  a  submerged  island.  We  had  been 
observed  from  the  shore,  and  soon  several  Arabs 
swam  to  us.  They  informed  us  that  the  river  was 
still  rising  rapidly,  so  that  in  a  few  hours  we  should 
be  carried  over  the  island,  and  that  when  the  raft 
was  again  afloat  they  should  be  able  to  direct  it  to 
the  bank  and  moor  it  safely. 

Our  thoughts,  thus  relieved  from  further  anxiety 
respecting  ourselves,  were  now  directed  toward  our 
crew  and  passengers.  Some  were  at  Tibrit ;  others 
were  left  a  long  distance  down  the  river,  running  aft- 
er us  in  the  vain  hope  of  getting  aboard ;  but  they 
might  as  reasonably  have  expected  one  of  Jove's 
thunderbolts  to  stop  to  accommodate  them  to  a  ride. 
Mohammed  we  left  eight  or  ten  miles  below  the  vil- 
lage, fording  his  way  to  safet}^  through  a  marsh ; 
and  two  were  with  us  on  an  island,  fifty  miles  below 


158  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

Tibrit.  With  our  crew  scattered  along  the  river  in 
this  way,  we  never  thought  of  indulging  the  hope  of 
ever  seeing  all  our  Arabs  together  again.  But  there 
is  no  calculating  w^hat  these  sons  of  Ishmael  will  do. 
Late  in  the  afternoon  we  discovered  a  small  object 
approaching  from  up  the  river.  It  was  our  captain. 
With  the  aid  of  a  pair  of  inflated  skins  he  had  made 
a  long  chase  of  fifty  miles  after  his  runaway  kellic. 
Presently  two  others  of  the  crew  appeared.  Then 
came  the  passengers :  first  the  gray-headed  patriarch, 
and  last  the  dandy,  whose  soaking  in  the  water  all 
day  had  caused  a  most  ludicrous  transformation  in 
his  appearance.  Such  enterprise  among  Arabs  is 
certainly  worthy  of  record. 

They  had  barely  reached  us  when  the  rising  rivei* 
bore  us  off  the  island.  Our  captain  and  his  follow- 
ers floated  around  us  like  so  many  water-dogs,  re- 
maining on  their  inflated  skins  rather  than  further 
burden  the  sinking  raft.  The  captain  now  assumed 
command — that  is  to  say,  commenced  shouting  with 
the  others,  who  were  all  too  busy  vociferating  orders 
themselves  to  give  any  heed  to  him.  Babel  upside 
down  would  have  been  notliinj?  to  the  confusion  our 
Arabs,  \vith  the  help  of  those  who  had  joined  them, 
succeeded  in  producing.  This  whole  intensified,  Mil- 
tonic  Pandemonium  was  swept  on  l)y  the  river ;  and 
had  not  the  Tigris  been  used  to  such  scenes,  various- 
ly  modified,  since    tlie   days    of  Islimael,  we   might 


RAFTING   ON  THE   TIGRIS.  I59 

doubtless  at  this  point,  without  asking  any  poetic 
license,  have  relieved  our  narrative  with  something 
about  "  frightened  waters,"  and  the  like.  It  certain- 
ly has  never  entered  into  the  imagination  of  any 
man  to  conceive  such  a  scene  of  distracting  confu- 
sion as  Arabs  on  water  are  capable  of  creating. 

As  soon  as  we  reached  a  favorable  point,  one  of 
the  swimmers  carried  the  long  cable  attached  to  the 
kellic  to  the  shore,  when  a  score  of  Arabs  seized  it; 
but  it  jerked  away  from  them  as  though  they  had 
lassoed  an  express  locomotive.  And  now  the  raft, 
dashed  repeatedly  against  the  rocky  bank  by  the 
powerful  current,  recommenced  its  wild  career  of  the 
night,  and  seemed  destined  to  be  wrecked  in  spite 
of  every  exertion.  We  were  thus  swept  on  over 
half  a  mile,  w^hen  the  cable  having  again  been  car- 
ried ashore,  at  a  point  where  a  host  of  natives  vv^aited 
to  seize  it,  the  fractious  kellic,  after  havinsf  drao-ired 
the  whole  posse  a  long  distance  down  the  shore,  w^as 
finally  moored  and  securely  fastened. 

Now  came  the  landing.  The  raft  grounded  some 
distance  from  the  bank,  and  a  score  of  Arabs  rushed 
into  the  stream,  each  anxious  for  the  privilege  of  car- 
rying us  ashore ;  for  such  a  service  as  that  of  saving 
ixliovxidji  (European)  from  a  wreck  would,  of  course, 
give  large  claims  for  generous  consideration  in  the 
anticipated  distribution  of  hachshisli.  The  j^robabil- 
ities  for  a  time,  from  the  shouting  and  cro^vding  and 


IQQ  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

pulling,  seemed  strongly  in  favor  of  our  being  carried 
ashore  in  detached  sections.  By  some  process,  which 
we  could  never  distinctly  recall,  we  were  each  on 
the  shoulders  of  a  brawny  son  of  Ishmael.  Several 
Arabs  on  either  side  held  up  our  feet,  a  number 
held  our  arms,  while  still  others  assisted  from  behind. 
In  fact,  the  man  who  thought  he  had  some  one  on 
his  back  was  the  least  essential  one  in  the  crowd. 
With  us  safely  landed,  attention,  or  rather  "  pell-mell 
havoc  and  confusion,"  was  directed  to  our  baggage. 
They  managed  to  tumble  one  of  our  trunks  into  the 
river,  and,  though  the  other  was  carried  ashore  high 
and  dry  on  an  Arab's  head,  our  bedding  was  dragged 
to  land  through  the  water. 

For  these  various  services  they  now  surrounded 
us,  clamorous  for  backshish.  Some  had  assisted  in 
landing  ourselves ;  one  had  taken  our  trunk  from 
the  raft — and  tumbled  it  into  the  river;  another  had 
caught  it  while  sailing  down  the  stream,  and  thus 
saved  it  from  going  on  to  Bagdad.  One  stalwart 
fellow  was  particularly  urgent  in  his  demand  for  a 
present.  AVell,  what  liad  he  done  t  Carried  our  hat 
ashore — having  taken  it  from  our  head  to  have  the 
opportunity.  Still  another  wily  Arab,  who,  while 
striving  to  add  to  the  confusion,  had  wet  his  blanket, 
approached  us  A\ith  a  most  lugubrious  countenance, 
and  held  u])  the  article,  a  corner  of  which  had  been 
dragged  in  the  water,  as  an  irresistible  i)lea  for  back- 
shish. 


RAFTING   OX   THE   TIGRIS.  101 

In  a  short  time  our  tent  was  raised  on  the  bank, 
and  dinner,  consisting  of  a  single  cliicken  which  we 
had  persuaded  our  Arab  friends  to  part  with,  was 
simmering  over  the  camp-fire  close  at  hand. 

The  spot  where  we  were  thus  cast  ashore  was  a 
pretty  one :  in  many  places  the  plain,  where  slightly 
depressed,  was  freshened  to  a  beautiful  emerald  hue, 
and  colored  richly  with  flowers.  Never  did  a  more 
beautiful  sunset  gild  the  Mesopotamian  plains  or 
gleam  from  the  waters  of  the  Tigris  than  that  which 
showered  the  whole  scene  around  us  with  gold,  as  on 
one  of  these  grassy  plats  we  sat  down  to  what  our 
gratitude  led  us  to  call — thouo'h  it  was  a  somewhat 
violent  anachronism — our  "  Thanksgiving  dinner." 

Early  upon  the  morning  following  our  rescue  over 
twenty  AraVjs  came  from  the  neighboring  village  to 
assist  our  men  in  repairing  the  kellic.  All  of  the 
freight  had  been  landed  the  previous  evening,  and 
was  heaped  upon  the  bank;  while  the  raft,  covered 
with  debris^  and  torn  and  racked  almost  to  pieces, 
lay  like  an  unshapely  mass  of  drift-wood  a  little  way 
from  the  shore,  apparently  a  hopeless  wreck.  The 
prospects  for  a  resumption  of  our  voyage  looked  dis- 
couraging enough.  But  our  men  with  their  assist- 
ants—  after  the  nargileli  had  been  handed  round, 
and  they  had  all  enjoyed  a  good  smoke  while 
squatted  on  the  bank  discussing  the  situation — set 
themselves  energetically  to  work  putting  the  raft  in 

M 


IQ2  EEMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

order  afrain.  Over  one  hundred  of  the  skins  had 
bursted,  and  from  the  remainder  a  Large  part  of  the 
air  had  escaped  by  leakage,  so  that  all  required  to 
be  reinflated.  The  injured  ones  were  removed,  those 
torn  so  badly  as  to  be  useless  thrown  aside,  and  the 
others  skillfully  repaired,  inflated,  and  readjusted  be- 
neath the  kellic. 

While  our  natives  were  thus  engaged  we  made  a 
visit  to  the  village  of  Samarah,  two  miles  distant, 
where  are  situated  two  beautiful  and  celebrated 
shrines  of  the  Shiah  Mohammedans,  places  of  great 
sanctity,  repute,  and  pilgrimage.  One,  a  beautifully 
gilded  dome,  that  rises  most  grandly  and  conspicu- 
ously over  the  desert,  covers  the  tomb  of  Imam  Hus- 
sain  Askari;  the  other,  an  enameled  dome,  covers 
that  of  Imam  Mehdi,  the  last  of  the  Imams,  rever- 
enced by  the  Shiahs  of  Persia.  A  strong,  well-con- 
structed wall,  built  by  the  liberality  of  the  Shiali 
Mohammedans  of  India,  secures  the  treasures  of  the 
shrines  from  the  raids  of  Bedawin.  Heavy  iron-sheet- 
ed gates  admitted  us  within  the  inclosure,  which  we 
found  crowded  with  a  miserable  Arab  village,  hud- 
dled about  the  gorgeous  mosques,  the  sacred  pre- 
cincts of  which  we  were  not  permitted  to  approach. 
The  scene  reminded  us  of  Palmyra.  Here  as  there 
splendor  and  wretchedness  were  mingled  together  in 
the  strangest  manner. 

These   magnificent   shrines    seem  ludicrously   out 


RAFTING   ON  THE  TIGRIS. 


163 


of  proportion  to  the  importance  of  Samarah.  One 
needs  not  to  be  told  that  those  golden  and  enameled 
domes,  flashing  in  the  sunlight,  are  no  more  the  crea- 
tions of  the  native  Arabs  collected  there  than  that 
the  Temple  of  the  Sun  at  Tadmor  is  the  work  of  the 
wild  Bedawin  who  now  cluster  about  it. 

Just  without  the  walls  that  inclose   the   villao-e 
and  shrines  is  a  curious  spiral  tower,  over  one  hun- 


KUINS   OF   SAMARAH. 


dred  and  fifty  feet  in  height,  solidly  constructed  of 
burnt  brick.  It  is  called  by  the  natives  Minareh, 
and  was  doubtless  used  as  a  minaret.  An  external 
spiral  stairway  leads  to  the  top.  It  immediately 
suggested  to  us  that  favorite  picture  of  the  tower  of 


164  KEMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

Babel  whicli  adorns  our  geographies.  It  only  needed 
a  long  procession  of  camels,  elephants,  horses,  goats, 
men,  etc.,  winding  nj)  the  spiral  stairway,  to  render 
the  resemblance  complete. 

The  view  that  we  gained  from  the  summit  of  the 
tower  embraced  unusual  elements  of  interest  and  im- 
pressiveness.  Just  at  the  foot  of  the  tower  lay  the 
ruins  of  an  extensive  quadrangular  building,  the  out- 
er walls  still  in  a  state  of  good  preservation;  this 
marked  the  spot  where  stood  a  splendid  medresseli,  or 
college,  during  the  classic  age  of  the  caliphs.  Only 
a  few  hundred  yards  from  this  rose  the  beautiful 
minarets  and  domes  of  the  Persian  shrines.  Far  over 
the  plain  to  the  north  rose  the  artificial  tell  of  Alizh, 
probably  the  ancient  tumulus  raised  by  the  Koman 
army,  A.D.  363,  in  commemoration  of  the  burning  of 
the  body  of  their  general,  the  Emperor  Julian,  who 
died  here  while  making  a  harassing  retreat  before 
the  Persians.  We  have  already  referred  to  this  event 
while  speaking  of  the  historic  associations  of  the  Ti- 
gris. But  what  im]3ressed  us  most  was  the  almost 
interminable  extent  of  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  city 
of  Samarah.  Low  mounds  of  every  possible  outline, 
(quadrangular  inclosures,  and  long  lines  of  walls, 
crumbled  into  ridges  of  earth,  covered  the  plain  in 
every  direction — southward  leading  the  eye  out  to 
the  horizon.  With  the  exception  of  the  irregularit} 
given  to  the  plains  by  these  mounds,  the  entire  field 


RAFTING   ON   THE   TIGRIS.  1(35 

embraced  by  the  vision  appeared  from  our  elevated 
stand-point  a  perfectly  level  expanse,  uninterrupted 
as  the  sea,  save  to  the  ftir  north,  where  the  hazy  out- 
line of  some  distant  hills  peeped  above  the  horizon 
— ^just  showing  their  summits,  as  distant  mountains 
seen  over  a  broad  reach  of  intervening  ocean.  From 
the  north  the  broad  stream  of  the  Tigris  came  wan- 
dering across  the  plain,  and  then,  with  many  delaying 
bends,  was  lost  in  the  thick  haze  of  the  southern  sky. 
A  few  irrigated  spots  along  the  river  were  beauti- 
fully green ;  the  rest  of  the  plain,  though  not  abso- 
lutely sterile,  seemed  almost  so  in  comparison  with 
tlie  deep  emerald  hue  of  these  favored  spots. 

Upon  our  return  to  the  kellic  we  found  that  our 
men  had  progressed  finely  with  their  w^ork.  All  of 
the  skins  that  were  not  irremediably  broken  had  been 
repaired,  and  the  raft  was  buoyed  up  quite  well  again ; 
though  when  all  the  freight  was  replaced,  it  sank 
several  inches  lower  in  the  water  than  before. 

The  cargo  having  been  reloaded,  all  the  Arabs 
who  had  assisted  in  the  work  sat  down  on  the  bank 
with  our  captain,  to  have  a  final  smoke  and  to  re- 
ceive remuneration  for  their  services.  The  matter 
of  settlement  was  not  got  along  with  without  the 
usual  amount  of  loud  talking  and  violent  gesticula- 
tion. One  would  have  supposed  that  they  had  ex- 
pended too  much  breath  in  blowing  up  the  two  or 
three  hundred  goat -skins  to  have  enough  left  to 


166  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

"  blow  np "  one  another  satisfactorily.  But  though 
circumstances  seemed  so  unfavorable  to  their  doing 
themselves  justice  in  the  matter,  they  did  not  fall  be- 
neath themselves,  but  were  admirably  successful  in 
creating  a  profound  tumult:  at  times  it  seemed  as 
though  they  would  fall  upon  one  another,  and  that 
there  would  be  no  Arabs  left  to  take  us  down  the 
river.  Finally  the  tumult  subsided,  and  leaving  two 
or  three  to  watch  the  kellic,  the  others  went  off,  the 
best  of  friends,  to  spend  the  night  at  the  village. 

The  sun  had  scarcely  risen  the  following  morning 
as  we  loosened  our  kellic  from  the  bank,  and  with 
all  of  our  former  companions,  excepting  Mohammed 
— whom  we  never  saw  after  our  night's  adventure — 
resumed  our  interrupted  voyage. 

There  was  a  native  of  Samarah  who  had  desired 
to  take  passage  with  us  to  Bagdad ;  but  had  been 
refused  by  our  captain,  as  our  raft  was  already  over- 
loaded. But  the  wily  Arab  seemed  to  have  his  af 
fections  set  on  a  pleasant  trip  down  the  river.  There 
was  no  hold  in  which  he  could  stow  himself  away, 
so  he  adopted  a  somewhat  different  plan.  As  we 
were  casting  loose  he  sat  on  the  bank,  amid  his  ef 
fects,  apparently  resigned  to  his  fate;  but  when  the 
raft  had  swung  a  few  feet  from  the  shoi'e,  he  sprang 
up,  tossed  on  board  a  bundle  of  clothing,  a  blanket, 
and  a  nargileh,  and  then  he  himself  followed  tliem, 
with  a  desperate  leap.     Had  a  bomb-shell  alighted 


RAFTING   ON  THE   TIGRIS.  167 

on  the  raft,  the  confusion  could  not  have  been  worse. 
While  some  of  the  crew  seized  the  clothing  and  nar- 
gileh  and  flung  them  back  upon  the  bank,  others,  with 
Abdullah,  attempted  to  seize  the  agile  passenger; 
but  he  dodged  theui  for  several  moments,  and  before 
they  could  capture  him  the  raft  was  fairly  out  in  the 
stream.  Although  they  seemed  inclined  at  first  to 
throw  him  overboard,  they  relented,  and  allowed  him 
to  go  on  with  us  to  Bagdad. 

A  few  miles  below  Samarah  the  geological  forma- 
tion of  the  Tigris  valley  presented  a  decided  change. 
The  conglomerate  or  pebbly  deposit,  through  which 
the  river  at  that  place  cuts  its  channel,  gave  place  to 
a  regular  alluvium,  where  sandy  banks,  undermined 
by  the  current,  were  constantly  crashing  into  the 
stream.  We  now  entered  upon  very  different  scen- 
ery from  that  through  which  the  river  had  already 
led  us.  From  Samarah  to  the  Persian  Gulf  the  Ti- 
o'ris  flows  throuo'h  a  regj-ion  level  as  the  sea;  while 
above  that  town  the  country,  though  for  the  most 
part  a  plain,  is,  as  we  have  seen,  at  times  decidedly 
undulating,  and  even  broken  by  considerable  ridges 
of  hills.  The  head  of  the  Persian  Giilf  formerly  ex- 
tended inland  to  near  Samarah,  but  it  has  been 
gradually  filled  up  by  the  deposits  of  the  Tigris  and 
Euphrates ;  just  as  the  deep  gulf  that  once  indented 
the  northern  coast  of  Africa  has  been  redeemed  from 
the  sea,  and  Egypt  created,  by  the  deposits  of  the 


168  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

Nile.  And  thus,  Avliile  tbe  latter  river  has  made  a 
rich  gift  to  Africa,  the  twin  streams  of  the  Mesopo- 
tamian  j)lain3  have  made  much  larger  gifts  to  Asia. 
In  this  Asian  Egypt  grew  up  two  of  the  greatest 
monarchies  of  the  East,  the  Chaldsean  and  Babylo- 
nian. In  those  early  times  it  was  the  granary  of  the 
world ;  the  liberality  of  the  soil,  in  its  prodigal  re- 
turns, was  the  marvel  of  all  the  early  travelers  and 
writers.  But  it  is  sadly  neglected  now ;  the  ancient 
conduits  that  formerly  distributed  so  carefully  the 
precious  waters  to  every  portion  of  the  plain  are 
now  choked  with  sand  ;  and  the  land,  except  in  some 
places  immediately  bordering  the  rivers,  lies  parched 
and  unproductive. 

Between  Samarah  and  Bagdad  there  are  no  ancient 
ruins  along  the  river;  for  formerly,  in  the  times  of 
the  early  Mesopotamian  monarchies,  the  Tigris  had 
its  bed  farther  to  the  west :  that  now  deserted  chan- 
nel is  lined  with  ruins  of  a  high  antiquity.  The 
present  course  of  the  Tigris  is  one  which  the  stream 
marked  out  for  itself  at  a  comparatively  recent  date. 

During  the  day  we  passed  numerous  encampments 
of  the  Bedawin,  which  were  invariably  seen  on  the 
haivis — the  lo^v  alluvial  trianMes  occurrins:  at  inter- 
vals  on  either  side  of  the  stream.  These  low  flats 
being  elevated  but  little  al:)ove  the  level  of  the  river, 
and  thus  easily  irrigated,  were  for  the  most  part  cov- 
ered with  a  luxuriant  c-rowth  of  m-ain.     With  the 


RAFTING   ON   THE   TIGRIS.  X(59 

exception  of  these  river  flats,  the  country  was  almost 
absolutely  sterile,  perfectly  level,  and  raised  only 
about  twelve  feet  above  the  river.  Long  lines  of 
embankments,  marking  the  course  of  ancient  canals, 
intersected  the  plain  in  different  directions. 

Early  in  the  afternoon  we  reached  Jezan  and 
Sindia,  little  Arab  villages,  shadowed  by  beautiful 
palm -groves.  It  was  really  refi-eshing  to  see  palms 
again :  this  was  the  first  genuine  grove  we  had  seen 
since  leaving  Egypt,  and  it  recalled  very  vividly  the 
generous  date -groves  of  that  country.  Indeed,  the 
whole  scene  was  very  Egyptian-like.  The  river,  the 
low  banks,  the  level  expanse  of  plain,  the  groves,  the 
huts  of  the  natives,  and  the  natives  themselves — all, 
if  entered  into  some  view  on  the  Nile,  would  have 
introduced  no  inharmonious  element. 

The  Tigris  was  constantly  surpi'ising  us.  In  our 
preconceptions  we  had  been  guilty  of  injustice.  We 
found  it  a  much  more  majestic  river  than  we  had 
ever  imagined  it  to  be.  At  times  during  the  day  it 
spread  out  over  a  mile  in  width,  unbroken  by  a  sin- 
gle island,  and  not  infrequently  it  led  the  eye  over 
magnificent  reaches  to  a  blank  horizon  of  sky  and 
water. 

Before  darkness  came  on  we  moored  to  the  Meso- 
potamian  bank,  opposite  the  village  and  date- grove 
of  Sardia,  as  the  name  was  given  by  our  Arabs.  The 
western  bank  was  bare  of  trees,  and  just  a  scanty 


170  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

verdure  relieved  the  half-desert  plain.  We  passed 
the  Sabbath  at  this  place,  for  a  severe  sand-storm 
compelled  our  natives  to  remain  under  the  protection 
of  the  bank.  Monday  morning,  by  daybreak,  we 
were  again  floating  quietly  down ;  and  soon  reached 
the  date-groves  of  Howeish,  situated  on  the  east  bank 
of  the  river.  A  low  dike,  two  or  three  feet  in  height, 
protected  the  village  and  gardens  from  inundation. 
The  river,  now  greatly  swollen,  was  undermining  the 
bank,  and  precipitating  both  the  palms  and  huts  of 
the  natives  into  the  water.  Could  the  river  only 
have  washed  the  vile  mud  village  out  of  the  grove, 
without  destroying  the  palms — that  would  have  been 
a  glorious  renovation.  These  wretched  mud  vil- 
lages, filled  with  all  sorts  of  offense,  are  a  vile  dese- 
cration of  these  sacred  groves.  The  unkempt  Arabs 
creep  out  and  in  their  mud  huts  to  eat  and  sleep 
and  sin :  one's  pity  is  excited,  but  holy  indignation 
more  abundantly  aroused,  at  such  un appreciative  and 
guilty  indolence. 

A  little  after  mid-day  the  southern  hoi-izon  was 
broken  by  clumps  of  palms,  Avhich  appeared  far  down 
the  rivei-.  Our  Arabs  devoutly  exclaimed,  ^^ Bagdad! 
sahlian  Allah!'" — "Bagdad!  Allah  be  praised."  A 
few  hours  brought  us  to  these  groves,  and  we  found 
that  they  formed  a  continuous  fringe  along  the  east 
bank ;  while  the  ^vest  liad  only  a  narrow  green  bor- 
der of  irrigated  fields.     Toward  evening  we  made  a 


RAFTING   ON   THE   TIGRIS. 


171 


hold  bend  of  tbe  river,  and  found  upon  our  riglit  the 
thick  date-groves  of  the  considerable  town  of  Kazmin, 
where  is  one  of  the  most  celebrated  shrines  of  the 
Mohammedan  world.  The  gilded  domes  of  the  sacred 
mosque,  and  the  elegant,  graceful  minarets,  that  flash- 


M08QUE   OF   lilAM   MOUSSA,  NEAR   BAGDAD. 

ed  in  the  evening  sun  over  the  tops  of  the  palms,  re- 
vived all  our  early  visions  of  the  magnificence  of  the 
city  of  the  Caliphs. 

At  this  spot,  only  a  few  miles  above  Bagdad,  our 
natives  moored  to  the  bank  for  the  night.  Beautiful 
was  the  river  scene  when  the  moon  arose,  and  bathed 
the  stream   and   its  palm -fringed  banks  in   a  soft. 


172  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

dreamy  flood  of  light.  It  was  a  perfect  picture — just 
such  as  artists  paint.  The  grouping  of  the  pahus  in 
dark,  lofty  masses  on  the  side  of  the  river  where  we 
lay  close  alongside  the  bank,  beneath  the  shadows 
of  the  trees ;  the  distinct  outline  of  the  palms  on  the 
opposite  shore,  which  were  not  so  crowded  as  to  lose 
their  individuality  as  they  traced  their  graceful  forms 
on  the  sky ;  the  island-like  group  far  down  the  river, 
faint  and  weird  in  the  long,  dim  perspective  of  the 
night;  the  clouds,  not  painted  with  the  deep -dyed 
hues  of  sunset,  but  suffused  with  a  faint  flush  of 
light;  and  this  whole  world  of  beauty  repeated  by 
the  calm  river — all  this  witchery  of  light  and  shade 
combined  to  produce  a  scene  of  rare  beauty  and  fasci- 
nation, one  well  worthy  of  the  city  of"  The  Thousand 
and  One  Nights'  Entertainments."  We  have  never  en- 
joyed a  more  perfectly  enrapturing  moonlight  scene. 
Our  Arabs  \vere  grouped  about  their  fire  on  the 
bank,  more  interested  in  their  supper  than  in  the 
beauties  of  the  evening :  they  cared  for  none  of  these 
things,  but  were  busy  planning  some  new  rascality. 
Late  in  the  evening,  when  all  was  quiet,  they  stealth- 
ily carried  ashore  several  bags  of  wheat,  and  secreted 
them.  Somebody's  invoice  probably  fell  short  when 
our  Arabs  arrived  with  their  carsro  at  Bao-dad.  But, 
tlien,  that  Avild  night's  adventure  ^vith  the  runaway 
kellic  would  serve  as  a  scape-goat  for  any  deficit  that 
might  appear  in  the  freight. 


RAFTING   ON   THE   TIGRIS.  173 

The  next  morning  we  floated  on  down  tlirougli  the 
avenue  of  palms  into  which  we  had  entered  the  ])ve- 
cedins:  evenina;.  Just  below  Kazmin  there  was  a 
long  break  in  the  groves  on  the  western  shore,  but  as 
we  neared  Bagdad  tall,  beautiful  palms  lined  the  riv- 
er on  either  side.  These  garden  groves  were  almost 
the  only  indication  we  had  of  near  approach  to  a 
large  city.  Arriving  at  the  suburbs  of  the  city, 
where  kellics  are  required  to  stop  for  custom-house 
formalities,  we  bade  farewell  to  our  raft,  that  had  car- 
ried us  through  so  many  dangers,  gave  our  tent  to 
our  captain  for  backshish,  transferred  oiu'selves  from 
the  kellic  to  one  of  the  peculiar  tub-boats  in  use  on 
the  river,  floated  on  clowm  into  the  city,  and  were 
soon  at  home  with  the  British  Vice-consul,  narrating 
our  adventures  on  the  Tigris,  and  learning  about 
Bagdad  and  its  people. 


174  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EJVIPIRES. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

BAGDAD. 

Origin  of  Bagdad. — The  Saracenic  Conquest. — Early  History  of  tbc 
City. — Oriental  Splendor. — Science  and  Literature. — Decline  of  the 
Power  of  the  Caliphs. — Bagdad  of  To-day. — Site  of  the  City. — Views 
along  the  Tigris. — A  Railroad.  —  A  Summer  Palace.  —  Government- 
house. —  Hospital.  —  Coflee-houses.  —  General  View  of  the  City. — 
Streets  and  Bazaars. — The  People. — English  Residency. — Courts. — 
Subterranean  Apartments. — Ornamentation  of  Rooms.  —  An  Indian 
Prince.  —  Mosaic  Population.  —  Babel  of  Languages.  —  Sabbaths  in 
Bagdad. — Religious  Edifices. — Telegraphs. — Steam  upon  the  Tigris. 
— Modern  Improvements. 

Bagdad  is  the  only  living  city  of  an}^  note  in  a 
region  filled  with  the  entombed  cities  of  dead  mon- 
archies. It  is  the  i^resent  representative  of  the  sixth 
and  last  of  the  great  capitals  that  arose  successively 
on  the  Chaldaean  plains ;  and  we  may  regard  it  as  the 
representative  of  ancient  Babylon,  as  the  authority  of 
that  imperial  city  was  transferred  successively  to  the 
royal  Seleucia  of  the  Greeks,  to  Ctesiphon  of  the  Par- 
thians,  to  Al-Madain  of  the  Persians,  and,  lastly,  to 
Ciifii  and  Bagdad  of  the  Caliphs.  No  other  region 
of  the  world  can  boast  such  a  line  of  brilliant  cap- 
itals as  rose  and  fell  on  that  narrow  plain.  Chal- 
daan,  Babylonian,  Grecian,  Parthian,  Persian,  and 
Arabian  state  and  authority  there  loomed  up,  seem- 


BAGDAD.  175 

ingly  substantial,  yet  fleeting  as  the  phantoms  of 
the  desert  mirage  that  flit  over  those  avid  regions 
to-day. 

For  the  orioiu  of  Bas-dad  we  must  look  to  that 
most  remarkable  irruption  of  semi-barbarous  tribes 
to  which  the  broad  and  varied  history  of  Asia  af- 
fords scarcely  a  parallel.  Early  in  the  seventh  cent- 
ury of  our  era  the  wild  tribes  of  Arabia,  inspired 
with  a  frenzied  enthusiasm  by  the  teachings  of  Mo- 
hammed, issued  from  their  deserts,  and  shouting  ^^  Al- 
lah cikhav'''' — "God  is  great" — swept  with  an  uncon- 
trollable fury  over  the  effeminate  and  effete  empires 
of  the  East,  and  in  a  short  time  changed  the  govern- 
ment and  relisjiou  of  half  the  world. 

While  this  remarkable  irruption  and  conquest  was 
invited  by  the  contemptible  effeminacy  of  the  East- 
ern empire,  and  the  feebleness  of  the  Persian  mon- 
archy, whose  early  vigor  had  been  lost  through  lux- 
urious indulgence  of  court  and  army,  the  propagation 
of  their  new  religious  faith  was  aided,  in  a  degree  at 
least,  by  the  shameless  corruptions  of  the  Christian 
Church,  that  had  so  far  fallen  from  its  pristine  pu- 
rity as  to  give  all  the  trenchant  pungency  of  truth  to 
every  dark  stroke  in  the  vivid  portrayal  drawn  by 
the  "  unfriendly  hand"  of  Gibbon.  Mohammedanism 
was,  as  expressed  b)^  Stanley,  in  his  history  of  the 
Eastern  Church,  a  "reaction"  from  a  debased  Chris- 
tianity.    As  iconoclasts  in  the  idolatrous  (Christian) 


176  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

churches,  the  sternly  monotheistic  followers  of  the 
False  Prophet  seemed  to  receive  a  fresh  inspiration 
of  fanaticism  and  a  new  ba2otism  of  iconoclastic  zeal. 
Thus  the  condition  of  both  State  and  Church  in  the 
East  was  favorable  for  the  extension  of  the  authori- 
ty and  faith  of  the  new  conquerors. 

Under  the  inspiration  of  the  half  truth  "  There  is 
no  god  but  God,  and  Mohammed  is  his  Prophet," 
and  with  the  assurance  that  to  fall  in  fio;htiu2f  infidels' 
was  a  short  way  to  Paradise  —  an  artful  doctrine, 
which  gave  a  reckless,  uncalculating  daring  to  the 
warrior — under  this  inspiration,  and  with  this  assur- 
ance, the  half  barbarous  tribes  of  Arabia  rushed  over 
Syria,  and  were  soon  in  possession  of  Damascus,  Pal- 
myra, Antioch,  Aleppo,  Emesa,  and  Jerusalem.  Ar- 
mies, some  over  a  hundred  thousand  strong,  panoplied 
in  armor,  and  marshaled  in  Grecian  phalanx,  were 
engaged  by  one  fifth  their  number,  and  scattered 
one  after  another  by  these  half  naked,  frenzied  "  cav- 
aliers of  the  desert,"  till  Constantinoi^le  itself  was  be- 
sieged. To  the  north,  they  swept  through  the  mount- 
ain-passes into  Tartary,  and  seized  Bokhara  from 
those  very  tribes  that  afterward  made  all  Europe 
tremble,  and  whose  answer  to  the  embassadors  of 
Rome,  sent  to  ask  what  limit  they  had  set  to  their 
conquests,  was — "  The  M'hole  world,  from  tte  east  to 
the  west,  we  will  conquer."  Undei*  the  lieutenants 
of  Omar,  Babylonia  was  overi'un,  the  splendid  but 


BAGDAD.  177 

effeminate  armies  of  the  Persians  were  routed,  the 
sumptuous  palace  of  the  Great  King  at  Madain  was 
sacked  by  the  wild  rovers  of  the  desert,*  "  and  the 
successful  leader,"  we  quote  Gibbon,  "  neither  halted 
nor  reposed  till  his  foaming  cavalry  had  tasted  the 
waters  of  the  Oxus."  While  these  conquests  were 
going  on  in  Asia,  other  leaders  subjugated  Egypt, 
swept  along  the  northern  coast  of  Africa  to  where 
the  ranges  of  Atlas  sink  beneath  the  Atlantic,  and 
there  Akbar  urged  his  horse  into  the  water,  and 
shouted,  "  If  thy  waves  did  not  hinder  me,  I  would 
conquer  all  the  lands  beyond." 

Thus  quickly  were  the  fairest  countries  of  the 
world,  stretching  across  two  continents,  from  the 
mountains  of  India  to  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  united 
in  one  gigantic  state : 

"A  countless  multitude, 
Syrian,  Moor,  Saracen,  Greek  renegade, 
Persian  and  Copt  and  Tartar,  in  one  bond 
Of  erring  faith  conjoined — strong  in  the  youth 
And  heat  of  zeal — a  dreadful  brotherhood." 

Medina,  one  of  the  holy  cities  of  Arabia,  was  the 
abode  of  the  caliphs  for  only  forty  years;  for  the 
attractions  of  Damascus,  the  "Queen  of  the  East,"  led 
the  successors  of  Mohammed  to  select  it  as  the  im- 
perial seat;  and  for  nearly  a  century  the  long  line 
of  the  Ommiades  reis-ned  amid  the  luxurious  delio-hts 

*  For  some  details  of  the  palace  of  Chosroes,  see  Chap.  IX. 

N 


178  REMAINS    OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

of  that  ancient  city.  When  the  line  of  the  Abbas- 
sides  arose,  Cufa,  upon  the  Euphrates,  was  chosen  by 
Abul  Abbas,  the  founder  of  that  dynasty,  as  the  seat 
of  the  royal  residence.  But  under  Alraansor,  the 
capital  was  changed  to  the  banks  of  the  Tigris,  and 
Bagdad,  then  an  unimportant  town,  was  selected  as 
the  site  of  the  new  city.     This  occurred  A.D.  762. 

The  caliphs  had  by  this  time  forgotten  the  rude- 
ness of  the  desert,  and  their  court,  from  the  stern 
simplicity  of  that  of  Medina,  had  become  almost  as 
luxurious  as  those  of  the  nations  they  had  conquered. 
From  those  same  nations,  too,  they  had  acquired  a 
knowledge  of  the  arts  and  sciences ;  conceived  a  love 
for  the  delights  and  refinements  of  literature,  and  a 
taste  for  all  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  civilized 
life.  Under  such  influences,  the  new  capital  rose 
gorgeous  as  the  creations  of  the  "Arabian  Nights." 
Sumptuous  palaces,  gilded-domed  mosques,  hundreds 
of  graceful  minarets,  and  long  lines  of  splendid  edi- 
fices sprang  into  existence  as  by  the  wand  of  the  en- 
chanter. Extensive  libraries  were  founded  and  col- 
leges endowed,  for  this  was  the  classic  age  of  the 
caliphs;  and  here  in  the  East  art  and  science  and 
literature  were  preserved  and  cultivated  for  five  hun- 
dred years,  while  Europe  was  passing  through  the 
dark  and  disturbed  centuries  of  the  Middle  Acres. 

During  this  period  the  city  rose  to  the  height  of 
its  splendor,  dis])laying  an  even  exceptional  Oriental 


BAGDAD.  179 

brilliancy  and  luxurious  magnificence.  More  than 
two  millions  of  people  gathered  at  this  centre  of  the 
Eastern  world.  It  seemed  as  if  Nineveh  had  been 
recreated.  Imposing  retinues  attended  the  oflScers 
of  the  court,  and  splendid  pageants  were  often  form- 
ed. The  funeral  obsequies  of  a  certain  saint  ^vere 
celebrated  by  a  procession  of  eight  hundred  thou- 
sand men  and  sixty  thousand  women.  And  here  it 
was  that 

"  The  gorgeous  East,  witli  ricliest  hand, 
Showers  on  her  kings  barbaric  pearls  and  gold;" 

for,  if  we  may  credit  Abulfeda,  on  a  certain  royal 
nuptial  occasion  "  a  thousand  pearls  of  the  largest 
size  were  showered  on  the  head  of  the  bride."  The 
same  historian  also  tells  us  that  at  the  reception  of 
a  Greek  embassy  by  the  Caliph  Moctador  (A.D.  917), 
one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  soldiers  flanked  the 
avenue  of  approach  to  the  palace.  The  officers  and 
attendants  of  the  court  were  resplendent  in  apparel 
bedecked  with  precious  gems.  "  Nor  was  the  palace 
itself  less  splendid,  in  which  were  hung  up  thirty- 
eight  thousand  pieces  of  tapestry,  twelve  thousand 
five  hundred  of  which  were  silk  embroidered  with 
gold.  The  carpets  on  the  floor  were  twenty-two 
thousand.  A  hundred  lions  were  brought  out,  with 
a  keeper  to  each  lion.  Among  the  other  spectacles 
of  rare  and  stupendous  luxury  was  a  tree  of  gold 
and  silver  spreading  into  eighteen  large  branches,  on 


180  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

which,  and  on  the  lesser  boughs,  sat  a  variety  of 
birds  made  of  the  same  precious  metals,  as  well  as 
the  leaves  of  the  tree.  While  the  machinery  effect- 
ed spontaneous  motions,  the  several  birds  warbled 
their  natural  harmony.  Through  this  scene  of  mag- 
nificence the  Greek  embassador  was  led  by  the  viz- 
ier to  the  foot  of  the  caliph's  throne."* 

Such  ardent  description  as  this  must  doubtless  be 
received  with  some  allowance;  yet  we  can  not  but 
feel  convinced  that  the  court  of  the  caliphs  at  Bag- 
dad, during  the  golden  days  of  the  caliphate,  was 
characterized  by  an  extravagant  magnificence  that 
even  surpassed  the  luxurious  splendor  of  the  Persian 
court.  But  this  profuse  display  of  wealth  and  re- 
sources ;  this  excessive  delight  in  spectacular  pa- 
geantry ;  this  unrestrained  indulgence  in  luxury ; 
this  extravagant  love  for  glitter  and  glamour,  may 
be  considered  by  many  simply  as  indicative  of  the 
essentially  barbaric  character  of  the  court  of  the  ca- 
liphs. Were  there  nothing  else  from  which  to  form 
a  judgment  respecting  the  advancement  of  the  Sara- 
cens in  civilization,  we  might  be  just  while  resting  in 
this  conclusion.  But  we  wish  that  those  who  pro- 
fess to  believe  that  the  Arabs  are  incapable  of  being 
inspired  with  a  love  and  appreciation  of  the  best  el- 
ements of  modern  culture,  are  naturally  incapacitated 

*  Abiilfcda,  as  quoted  by  Gibbon.     See  Milmau's  "  Gibbon's  Rome," 
vol.  v.,  p.  298. 


BAGDAD.  ]_3]^ 

for  civilization,  and  that  the  incubus  of  a  perpetual 
miracle  forever  bars  to  them  the  way  of  progressive 
enlightenment  and  cultivation — we  wish  that  those 
who  entertain  such  views  as  these  would  study  the 
history  of  the  Saracenic  state,  from  the  establishment 
of  the  caliphate  at  Bagdad  to  the  close  of  the  ninth 
century.  The  annals  of  the  brilliant  reign  of  the 
Moorish  kino-s  at  Cordova  and  Grenada  mio-ht  teach 
a  similar  lesson :  a  library  of  six  hundred  thousand 
volumes  implies  a  taste  for  literature.  The  royal 
library  at  Bagdad  must  also  have  been  sufficiently 
voluminous,  if  (Gibbon,  following  the  "  Bibliotheca 
Arabico-Hispana,"  is  the  authority)  "a  private  doc- 
tor" was  under  the  necessity  of  declining  an  invitation 
from  the  Sultan  of  Bokhara  because  the  transport 
of  his  books  would  have  necessitated  a  caravan  of 
four  hundred  camels.  The  different  branches  of 
knowledge  were  assiduously  cultivated.  Instead  of 
contemning  the  learning  of  the  nations  they  had  con- 
quered, the  libraries  of  the  West  were  laid  under 
heavy  contribution ;  hundreds  of  volumes  of  Grecian, 
Koman,  and  Persian  literature  were  translated  into 
Arabic,  and  their  diligent  study  recommended  by 
the  inspirers  of  this  literary  enthusiasm.  "It  is 
probable  that  those  books  of  Livy's  History  so  long- 
wished  for  by  the  admirers  of  classical  learning  are 
not  the  only  borrowed  treasures  deposited  among 
the  manuscripts  of  Arabi^."     (Ouseley's  "  Oriental 


182  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

Collection,"  vol.  i.,  p.  6.)  Gladwin,  the  translator  of 
the  "  Gulistau  "  of  Saadi,  declares  that  Europe  has  de- 
rived more  of  its  knowledge  of  Persian,  Coptic,  and 
Greek  arts  and  sciences — in  truth,  more  of  its  knowl- 
edge in  all  departments  of  human  learning — through 
the  Arabic,  into  which  lanQ:uao:e  this  learnincj-  was 
translated  during  this  Augustan  period,  than  it  has 
received  from  all  other  sources  combined.  (Intro- 
duction to  the  "  Gulistan.") 

Poetry,  lyric  and  epic,  philosophy,  theology,  med- 
icine, mathematics,  astronomy,  geography,  and  his- 
tory—  all  the  most  important  departments  of  hu- 
man learning — w^ere  enriched  by  the  Arabian  mind. 
The  decadal  system  of  numeration,  introduced  from 
India,  was  substituted  for  the  more  cumbrous  sys- 
tems of  the  European  mathematical  sciences;  trigo- 
nometry and  algebra  were  improved ;  the  progres- 
sion of  the  equinox  Avas  observed,  and  a  degree  of  a 
great  circle  of  the  earth  twice  measured  on  the  Chal- 
dsean  plains.  These  brilliant  achievements  will  serve 
to  illustrate  the  ardor  and  success  of  the  Saracens  in 
difficult  fields  of  study  and  research. 

Recent  investigations  have  shown  how  largely  Eu- 
rope was  indebted  for  her  arts  and  sciences  to  the 
early  Chaldseans  and  Assyrians;  and  here  now  we 
see  Art,  Science,  and  Literature,  during  the  centuries 
of  darkness,  rudeness,  convulsion,  and  transition  in  the 
West,  returning  to  and  seeking  an  asylum  in  their 


BAGDAD.  183 

first  home  in  the  East.  When  finally  Europe's  eman- 
cipation eame,  they  were  given  back — largely  through 
the  otherwise  unserviceable  and  fruitless  Crusades — 
if  not  wholly  reinspired  with  a  new  life,  at  least  pos- 
sessed of  new  elements  of  vitality  and  growth. 

It  would  be  as  unprofitable  as  uninteresting  to 
follow  the  fortunes  of  Bagdad  after  the  decline  of 
the  power  of  the  caliphs.  In  1258  the  savage  Mon- 
gol Hulagou  stormed  the  city,  which  "  had  no  ad- 
equate arms,  even  had  it  possessed  the  spirit,  to  with- 
stand the  sword  that  had  broken  to  pieces  the  dag- 
2:ers  of  the  formidable  and  fierce  Assassms  of  Persia." 
Again  it  shows  signs  of  returning  life ;  but  far  away, 
in  those  "  shadowy  lands  of  the  Gogs  and  Magogs," 
the  dread  hordes  of  Tartary  are  gathering,  and  Bag- 
dad is  again  overwhelmed  in  the  storm  that  sweeps 
the  plains  of  Western  Asia.  At  last  Timour  came, 
and  on  the  site  of  the  city  constructed  a  pyramid 
of  ninety  thousand  heads.  That  was  five  hundred 
years  ago.  Since  that  event  the  city  has  followed 
the  obscure  fortunes  of  the  countries  ruined  and  des- 
olated by  that  ruthless  destroyer  of  the  race. 

The  Bagdad  of  to-day  is  built  upon  both  banks  of 
the  Tigris ;  the  larger  portion  of  the  city,  however, 
lying  on  the  eastern  bank.  The  river  for  several 
miles  above  and  below  the  town  is  bordered  with 
gardens  and  date-groves.  Let  us  enter  the  city  with 
the  Tigris  from  the  north.     After  bearing  us  past 


184  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

the  splendid  shrine  of  Kazmiu,  the  river  sweeps  us 
on  through  gardens  and  groves  of  palms,  and  amid 
these  makes  long  delaying  bends,  as  if  reluctant  to 
leave  them  for  the  dreary  desert  again.  When  Bag- 
dad was  at  the  height  of  its  splendor  this  magnifi- 
cent river  avenue,  with  its  borders  of  stately  palms, 
formed  an  appropriate  approach  to  the  most  ostenta- 
tious capital  of  the  Eastern  world.  But  now  it  ex- 
cites expectations  of  beauty  and  grandeur  that  are 
doomed  to  be  disappointed,  for  there  is  nothing  in 
the  Bagdad  of  the  present  to  awaken  admiration. 
As  the  Tigris  bears  us  on  through  the  beautiful 
groves,  and  w^e  near  the  city,  with  our  heads  filled 
with  the  glowing  pictures  of  the  Arabian  Nights,  we 
become  impatient  for  a  glimpse  of  the  "City  of  Gar- 
dens," the  "  City  of  the  Caliphs,"  the  "  City  of  the 
Enchanters,"  the  "  City  of  the  Commanders  of  the 
Faithful,"  the  "  City  of  the  Vicars  of  the  Prophet  of 
Allah,"  the  "  City  of  Peace  and  the  Tower  of  the 
Saints."  But,  oh !  how  cruelly  that  first  view  anni- 
hilates all  our  life-long  visions  of  peris  and  fairies 
and  enchanters  and  Aladdin  palaces.  Some  wretch- 
ed mud  huts  and  dirty  Arabs  in  the  groves,  and  nu- 
merous little  natives,  innocent  of  all  clothing,  hailing 
us  from  the  bank,  notify  us  that  we  have  reached  the 
suburbs  of  tlie  "  City  of  Peace  and  of  the  Saints." 

As   we    near   the   city   proper,  more    substantial 
buildings  rej^lace   the    mud   structures   of  the   out- 


BAGDAD.  135 

skirts.  The  first  thing  that  attracts  our  attention  on 
the  western  bank  of  the  river  quite  dazes  us.  We 
brush  our  eyes,  and  look  the  second  time.  There  is 
no  mistake.  There  is  a  raih'oad,  a  station  building, 
coaches,  and  a  locomotive.  The  locomotive  looks 
too  young,  though,  to  be  set  to  work.  But  this  is  a 
precocious  country ;  so  there  is  no  telling.  Our  cice- 
rone relieves  our  curiosity  by  informing  us  that  the 
engine  was  imported  from  England,  and  was  intend- 
ed to  run  between  Bagdad  and  the  shrine  of  Kazmin. 
But  the  road  was  so  poorly  constructed  that  it  was 
not  safe  for  the  little  thing  to  exercise  upon  it;  so 
now  the  coaches  are  dragged  by  horses.  Our  guide 
also  volunteers  the  information  that  that  old  build- 
ing on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river  contains  heaps 
of  rusting  machinery,  sufficient  to  furnish  a  moderate 
cotton  factory.  It  seems  that  a  few  years  ago  the 
idea  occurred  to  the  pasha  of  making  a  manufactur- 
ing, city  of  Bagdad;  thereupon  this  machinery  was 
ordered  from  Europe.  But  before  it  arrived  some 
other  idea  had  suggested  itself  to  the  pasha,  and 
manufacturing  interests  languished. 

Now  we  drift  past  an  old  bridge  of  boats,  which 
has  been  swung  open  to  save  it  from  a  trip  to  the 
gulf  on  the  swollen  river,  and  are  fairly  within  the 
city.  On  our  left  is  the  most  showy  edifice  in  Bag- 
dad— the  palace  constructed  for  the  Shah  of  Persia, 
when  the  guest  of  the  city  a  few  years  ago.     The 


186  REMAINS   OF  LOST   EMPIRES. 

front  of  the  building  presents  quite  an  attractive  ap- 
pearance: a  large  tower  rises  from  each  corner.  It 
is  surrounded  by  a  beautiful  garden,  planted  with 
trees  and  shrubbery;  and  altogether  the  view  from 
the  river  is  very  pretty.  It  is  now  occupied  by  the 
Pasha  of  Bagdad,  which  explains  the  presence  of  the 
guards  in  front.  On  our  right  are  several  coffee- 
houses, opening  on  the  river,  and  filled  with  turban- 
ed  smokers.  We  drift  on  past  the  substantial  gov- 
ernment-houses, recently  constructed  on  an  European 
model.  In  front  stands  a  large  and  lofty  clock-tow- 
er. Ui^on  the  western  bank,  nearly  opposite,  is  the 
city  hospital,  another  substantial  building,  European 
in  style.  And  now  more  coffee-houses  are  passed, 
and  we  float  on  between  lines  of  crazy,  two-storied 
buildings,  many  of  ^vhich  are  furnished  with  bal- 
conies immediately  overhanging  the  river. 

Midway  through  the  city  we  arrive  at  the  bridge 
of  boats  which  unites  the  eastern  and  western  por- 
tions of  the  town.  Here  lies  a  flotilla  of  steamers. 
How  civilization  is  steaming  its  way  into  this  Ori- 
ental city  !  One  of  these  vessels  is  an  English  mail 
steamer,  connecting  at  Basrah  with  the  line  for  India. 
Just  below  the  bridge  we  see  the  fine  edifice  of  the 
English  Resident  of  Bagdad ;  and  away  down  the 
river,  through  a  long  vista  of  buildings,  w^e  catch 
sight  of  the  palm-groves  that  fringe  the  Tigris  as  it 
escapes  from  the  city. 


BAGDAD.  157 

An  old  minaret  standing  in  the  midst  of  the  east- 
ern portion  of  the  town,  dating  back  to  A.H.  633, 
will  afford  us  a  good  coup  d''oeil  of  the  city.  A 
dark,  winding  stairway  leads  us  to  the  summit  of 
the  tower. 

The  view  we  have  gained  embraces  the  entire  city 
as  it  lies  upon  the  banks  of  the  Tigris.  The  dull, 
level  monotony  of  the  yellow-gray  mass  of  buildings 
is  in  a  measure  broken  and  relieved  by  a  score  of 
slender,  graceful  minarets,  by  several  large  domes  of 
mosques,  some  ornamented  by  glazed  tiles,  disposed 
in  various  patterns,  and  by  the  crown  of  palms  that 
rise  from  the  courtyards  throughout  the  city.  North 
and  south  the  town  is  lost  in  date-groves ;  the  small- 
er portion  on  the  western  bank  of  the  river  is  com- 
pletely embowered  with  palms.  The  course  of  the 
Tigris  before  it  enters  and  after  it  leaves  the  city 
can  be  followed  by  the  eye  for  a  long  distance,  by  the 
emerald  line  of  vegetation  which  it  traces  on  the  des- 
ert. Five  miles  up  the  river  the  four  lofty  minarets 
and  the  gilded  dome  of  the  splendid  shrine  at  Kaz- 
min  glitter  amid  the  dark  date-groves.  To  the  east, 
an  arid,  barren  plain  leads  the  eye  from  the  ruinous 
walls  of  the  city  to  the  distant  horizon,  along  w^hich 
is  traced  in  low,  indistinct  outline  the  hills  that  bor- 
der the  great  valley ;  beyond  the  groves,  along  the 
west  bank,  a  flooded  plain  reaches  out  toward  the 
Euphrates.     In  this  same  direction,  about  six  miles 


138  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

distant,  the  great  mass  of  Akkerkuf,  of  Babylonian 
origin,  marking  the  site  of  an  ancient  temple,  rises 
conspicuous  over  the  desert. 

Descending  from  the  tower  into  the  city,  we  find 
ourselves  in  a  perfect  labyrinth  of  streets  and  ba- 
zaars. The  former  are  narrow,  generally  not  more 
than  eight  or  ten  feet  in  width,  and  often  not  more 
than  six,  and  are  lined  with  buildings  one  or  two 
stories  in  height,  which  usually  present  unbroken 
blank  walls :  the  buildings  that  border  some  of  the 
better  streets  are,  however,  furnished  with  lattice- 
windows,  such  as  are  seen  in  Cairo;  but  the  use  of 
these  is  not  so  common  as  in  Egypt,  and  hence  the 
street  views  of  Bagdad  are  devoid  of  that  pictur- 
esqueness  that  lends  a  sort  of  charm  to  the  streets 
of  Cairo  and  Alexandria. 

Some  of  the  bazaars  are  fine  brick  arcades,  wide, 
lofty,  and  convenient,  and  furnished  with  stalls  much 
larger  than  those  of  either  Aleppo  or  Damascus,  some 
attaining  the  dimensions  of  a  moderate-sized  store. 
But  others  of  the  bazaars  are  not  so  well  construct- 
ed ;  and,  instead  of  the  substantial  arch  of  brick, 
have  ragged  mats  laid  on  poles  for  a  roof:  in  these 
the  streets  are  wretchedly  unclean,  and  in  the  sea- 
son of  rains  almost  impassable  from  mud.  The  va- 
riety of  wares  dis^^layed  in  these  bazaars  is  perfectly 
bewildering,  for  here  are  brought  together  the  prod- 
ucts of  both  the  East  and  West. 


BAGDAD.  189 

It  is  a  strano;e  stream  of  life  that  we  encounter 
ilowing  through  the  streets  of  this  Oriental  city.  We 
observe  that  a  painfully  large  proportion  of  the  pop- 
ulation are  wretchedly  clothed,  witnessing  to  wide- 
spread poverty,  degradation,  and  almost  hopeless 
wretchedness.  Children,  often  naked  as  innocence, 
fill  the  streets ;  dervishes,  covered  with  foul  rags, 
making  "  filth  synonymous  with  piety,"  hold  out  their 
bowls  for  charity ;  closely  veiled  ladies,  completely 
wrapped  in  long,  loose,  blue  garments,  and  mounted 
on  white  asses  fancifully  dyed,  as  to  mane  and  tail, 
with  a  gay,  bright,  orange  pigment,  are  constantly 
passing  us;  Turkish  officials,  in  gold  and  lace,  and 
girded  with  the  inevitable  long,  crooked  sword,  clat- 
ter pompously  by ;  now  and  then  a  really  pretty 
child,  richly  dressed  and  attended  by  a  liveried  serv- 
ant, refreshes  the  eye;  just  to  remind  us  of  the  out- 
side world,  a  Frank  now  rushes  against  us ;  and  just 
once  we  turn  round  to  allow  our  eye  to  follow — in 
Bagdad  an  excusable  act — an  European  lady,  with 
Parisian  bonnet  and  unveiled  face.  And  thus  we 
pass  on  through  the  streets,  meeting  at  times  what 
is  pleasing,  but  more  frequently  that  which  is  in- 
different or  absolutely  offensive.  We  constantly  find 
ourselves  drawing  away  from  contact  with  what 
prudence  dictates  us  to  avoid,  dodging  careless  don- 
keys, or  droj^ping  ourselves  suddenly  to  avoid  being 
crushed  by  the  swaying  burdens  of  a  train  of  camels. 


190  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

The  cawass,  clearing  the  way  for  persons  of  rank; 
the  drivers  of  mules  and  camels ;  and  the  carriers 
of  burdens,  are  all  shouting  ^^halehf  halehr  which 
means  to  take  care,  or  get  out  of  the  way ;  but  while 
clearing  the  way  for  one,  we  are  sure  to  obstruct 
somebody  else's  passage,  whereupon  a  shrill  "  haleliP'' 
causes  us  to  make  a  sudden  lunge  in  another  direc- 
tion, and  thus  our  progress  is  the  erratic  course  of  a 
shuttlecock.  We  are  glad  to  escape  at  last  from  the 
crowded  streets,  and  to  find  ourselves  safely  and 
comfortably  ensconced  uj)on  a  pillowed  divan,  and 
watching  through  the  lattice -window  of  our  apart- 
ment the  stream  of  Oriental  life  still  flowing  on 
through  the  street  beneath. 

It  so  happened  at  the  time  of  our  visit  that  the 
Consul-general  of  Bagdad  was  absent  from  the  city, 
having  gone  to  enjoy  a  season  of  camp  -  life  in  the 
gardens  of  Hillah ;  so  during  our  stay  at  the  capital 
we  were  entertained  at  the  home  of  the  courteous 
Vice-consul,  Mr.  Minas,  a  wealthy  Armenian  native  of 
Bagdad.  This  afforded  us  an  opportunity,  that  could 
not  otherwise  have  been  gained,  of  observing  some  of 
the  conventionalities  of  high  life  in  the  ancient  city 
of  the  caliphs.  For  although  many  European  inno- 
vations had  been  introduced  in  the  domestic  arrange- 
ments of  the  home  of  the  Vice-consul,  still  there  was 
so  much  left  distinctly  Oriental  that  we  were  constant- 
ly entertained  by  things  of  novelty  and  interest. 


BAGDAD.  191 

The  residence  of  the  Vice-consul  was  a  large  two- 
story  building,  unattractive  in  its  dull  brick  walls 
without,  but  in  the  decorations  of  the  interior  re- 
minding lis  of  the  palaces  of  Damascus.  (Orientals 
care  but  little  for  that  exterior  ornamentation  which 
characterizes  the  domestic  architecture  of  the  West. 
All  the  beauty  of  their  homes — when  beauty  there 
is — is  as  carefully  walled  in  from  public  gaze  as  the 
attractions  of  the  harem  are  veiled  from  profane  eyes.) 
It  was  constructed  about  two  courts,  the  inner  and 
largest  being  beautifully  ornamented  with  flowers 
and  shrubs,  and  with  orange  and  palm  trees.  The 
former,  just  in  blossom,  loaded  the  air  of  the  court 
with  fragrance,  and  scattered  the  ground  with  snowy 
flakes ;  while  the  latter  were  shaking  out  from  their 
bursting  spathes  their  rich,  showy  tassels  of  gold.  A 
deep  pillared  corridor  ran  about  the  court,  and  this 
was  surmounted  by  a  gallery,  or  balcony,  on  which 
all  the  rooms  of  the  upper  story  opened. 

One  peculiarity  of  the  house  was  its  semi-subter- 
ranean apartments.  All  of  the  principal  dwellings 
of  Bagdad  are  provided  with  these  cellar-like  rooms, 
called  serdauhs.  From  the  first  of  June  to  the  close 
of  September  the  heat  is  so  intense  as  to  drive  the 
inhabitants  to  these  partly  underground  a23artments. 
The  thermometer  during  these  heated  months  ranges 
between  100°  and  130°  Fahr.,  seldom  falling  below 
the  former  figure  during  any  portion  of  the  night. 

O 


192  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

These  serdauhs  are  not  wholly  subterraneous,  as  has 
been  represented  by  some,  but  are  only  about  half 
under  ground,  and  are  thus  well  ventilated  and 
lighted  by  windows  set  in  the  upper  portion  of  the 
walls.*  The  day  is  passed  in  these  comparatively 
cool  apartments;  the  night  upon  the  flat,  parapet- 
guarded  roof. 

The  different  apartments  of  the  Consulate,  all  of 
which  had  doors  or  windows  opening  to  the  inner  or 
outer  court,  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  were 
spacious,  and  richly  decorated  in  Oriental  taste.  The 
walls  and  ceiling  were  ornamented  with  representa- 
tions of  vases  of  flowers,  clusters  of  fruit  and  foliage, 
and  figures  of  birds,  portrayed  in  pigment  or  stucco. 
Persian  carpets  and  divans,  furnished  with  large  pil- 
lows to  support  the  half  reclining  body,  gave  a  suf- 
ficiently luxurious  appearance  to  the  various  apart- 
ments. 

The  building  used  as  the  British  Eesidency,  the 
home  of  the  Consul-general  of  Bagdad,  though  some- 
what larger  than  the  one  we  have  described,  is  too 


*  In  the  serdauh  of  the  Residency  we  observed  the  destructive  work 
of  white  ants :  the  marble  columns  which  supported  the  ceiling  were 
perforated,  and  in  parts  honey-combed,  by  these  insects,  just  as  trees 
arc  perforated  l)y  wood-borers.  We  were  informed  that  these  ants  would 
penetrate  tin  and  iron,  hy  smearing  them  with  a  substance  that  par- 
tially corrodes  the  metal  and  facilitates  their  operations.  These  in- 
sects have  been  imported  into  Bagdad  from  India  in  boxes  of  mer- 
chandise, and  as  yet  infest,  so  far  as  we  could  learn,  only  the  residences 
of  those  who  have  by  such  means  introduced  them  into  their  houses. 


BAGDAD.  J  93 

similar  to  it  to  require  particular  mention.  The  resi- 
dence of  Ekbol  ul  Deole,  a  deposed  prince  of  India, 
beld  in  great  consideration  at  Bagdad,  is  one  of  the 
finest  in  the  city.  We  were  his  guest  one  evening, 
and  passed  some  pleasant  hours  in  his  luxuriously 
furnished  apartments.  This  prince  was  a  special 
friend  of  the  Vice-consul,  and  it  was  through  his 
thoughtful  introduction  that  we  were  indebted  for 
the  pleasure  of  the  interview.  During  the  entire 
period  of  our  visit  in  Bagdad  our  courteous  enter- 
tainer was  constantly  furnishing  us  with  facilities  for 
increasing  our  acquaintance  in  the  city,  and  for  se- 
curing that  information  which  we  desired.  We  think 
gratefully  of  these  kindnesses  even  now ;  for  to  them 
we  are  indebted  for  many  pleasant  remembrances  of 
our  visit. 

Bagdad  has  a  mosaic  population  of  about  one  hun- 
dred thousand.  It  rivals  Constantinople  in  its  mar-- 
velous  conglomeration  of  nationalities,  religion,  and 
languages :  there  are  Arabs  and  Greeks,  Armenians 
and  Persians,  Jews  and  Turks,  Hindus  and  Kurds, 
Franks  and  Africans;  there  are  Moslems  and  Chris- 
tians, Magians  and  Israelites,  Buddhists  and  Infidels. 
And  the  tongues  are  as  numerous  and  confuted  as 
the  most  enthusiastic  Biblical  student  could  wish  to 
discover  in  such  proximity  to  Babel :  Arabic,  Greek, 
Armenian,  Syriac,  Persian,  Hebrew,  Turkish,  Hin- 
dustani, English,  French,  German,  and  Italian  are  the 


194  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

various  mediums  tlirough  wbich  the  people  make 
themselves  intelligible — or  unintelligible — to  one  an- 
other. It  is  Babel  confounded.  At  the  table  of  the 
Consulate,  conversation  was  sustained,  by  our  party 
of  six,  in  nine  different  languages.  It  is  a  matter  of 
astonishment,  the  number  of  languages  witli  which 
some  of  these  Orientals  are  familiar.  The  son  of  our 
entertainer,  a  young  Greek  Armenian,  could  speak 
six  languages  fluently,  passing  from  one  to  another 
with  unconscious  ease.  If  we  recollect  correctly,  it 
is  our  worthy  missionary,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Marsh,  several 
years  a  resident  of  Nineveh,  who  says  that  these 
natives  can  not  understand  the  Pentecostal  miracle 
of  the  gift  of  tongues.  They  think  the  miracle  was, 
not  that  they  spake  every  man  in  the  tongue  of  every 
other,  but  that  each  should  have  been  able  to  under- 
stand only  Ms  own  tongue. 

The  number  of  Sabbaths  at  Bagdad  is  also  in 
keeping  with  the  confusion  in  other  things.  There 
are  four  each  week :  the  Yezidees,  or  devil-worship- 
ers,* observe  Wednesday;  the   Mohammedans,  Fri- 

*  Although  the  Yezidees  are  scattered  throughout  several  provinces  of 
Turkey,  still  their  strongholds  are  the  Jebel  Siiijar,  in  Northern  Meso- 
potamia, and  the  hill  districts  of  Kurdistan.  They  believe  in  one  Su- 
preme Deity ;  but  all  worship  is  reserved  for  an  inferior  evil  spirit,  the 
devil,  who,  they  say,  "must  be  conciliated  and  reverenced ;  for  as  he  has 
the  means  of  doing  evil  to  mankind,  so  will  he  hereafter  liave  the  pow- 
er of  rewarding  them."  Tlic  philosophy  of  the  whole  doctrine  seems 
to  be  that,  while  tlie  Good  Spirit  will  harm  no  one, "it  is  prudent  to  be 
on  good  terms  with  the  Evil  One.     They  will  not  pronounce  the  name 


BAGDAD.  195 

clay;  the  Jews,  Saturday;  the  Christians,  Sunday. 
The  places  of  worship  are,  of  course,  as  numerous  as 
the  different  sects:  mosques  are  scattered  all  over 
the  city;  synagogues  are  numerous;  and  there  is  a 
fine  Roman  Catholic  cathedral,  a  Chaldsean  church, 
and  a  Papal  and  an  Orthodox  Armenian  church. 
The  Moslems  number  about  seventy-five  thousand, 
or  quite  three  fourths  of  the  population,  and  the 
different  sects  of  Christians  about  three  thousand. 

The  antiquities  of  Bagdad  are  neither  very  ancient 
nor  numerous.  There  are,  however,  some  remains  of 
the  golden  period  of  the  caliphate  that  excite  our 
interest.  Just  without  the  limits  of  the  western 
suburbs  of  the  city  stands  the  tomb  of  Zobeide,  the 
beautiful  and  favorite  consort  of  the  renowned  Ha- 
roun-al-Raschid.  The  monumental  structure  is  very 
unpretentious,  and  seems  quite  unworthy  of  having 
committed  to  it  the  memory  of  the  lovely  Zobeide. 
It  is  a  curious  brick  edifice,  consisting  of  an  octagonal 
base,  about  fifteen  feet  in  diameter,  and  of  equal 
height,  surmounted  by  a  cone-shaped  roof  twenty-five 
feet  high,  fretted  so  as  to-reseml^le  a  pine-apple.     Im- 


of  the  devil,  nor  employ  any  word  similar  in  sound.  They  recognize 
the  authority  of  the  Bible  and  the  Koran,  their  interpretations  of  which 
are,  of  course,  tainted  with  their  peculiar  belief.  With  the  rites  of 
baptism  and  circumcision  they  blend  various  ceremonials  of  the  Sa- 
bian  worship.  They  have  endured  much  persecution  from  the  Mo- 
hammedans on  account  of  their  religious  tenets. —  Vide  Layard's  "  Nin- 
eveh and  its  Remains,"  vol.  i.,  p.  235,  et  seq. 


IQQ  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

mediately  about  it  are  numerous  groves:  Moslems 
love  to  repose  near  the  tombs  of  their  saints,  that 
they  may  have  the  benefit  of  their  presence  and  in- 
fluence at  the  resurrection. 

Khan  Aourtmeh,  in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  city, 
is  a  relic  of  early  Saracenic  architecture,  it  having 
been  constructed  by  the  Caliph  Haroun-al-Easchid. 
It  is  a  lofty  vaulted  structure,  the  roof  being  ribbed 
by  eight  massive  arches  of  brick.  What  the  building 
was  originally  designed  for  can  not  be  pronounced 
with  certainty ;  but  at  present  it  is  used  as  a  sort  of 
caravansary,  or  storehouse,  for  merchandise. 

It  seems  almost  as  great  an  incongruity  to  think 
of  steamers  and  telegraphs  in  connection  v^^ith  the 
city  of  the  Arabian  Nights  as  to  speak  of  Jerusalem 
and  railroads  in  the  same  breath.  But  thus  it  is. 
Modern  civilization  is  a  ruthless  disenchanter.  Every 
spot  hitherto  sacred  to  the  imagination  is  entered 
and  remorselessly  disencharmed.  The  locomotive 
goes  thundering  into  the  Eternal  City;  runs  over 
miles  of  waves  to  break  the  spell  of  the  Italian  "  City 
of  the  Sea;"  screams  distractingly  beneath  the  very 
shadow  of  the  Athenian  Temple  of  Theseus;  rushes 
over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  of  the  Pha- 
raohs, and  drives  out  every  thing  sacred ;  and  now 
a  thousand  slaves  are  smoothing  a  highway  to  the 
Holy  City,  that  the  disenchanter  may  mount  the  hills 
of  Judea,  and   shriek   thi'ough  the  olive -groves  of 


BAGDAD.  197 

Getlisemane,  and  undei-  t~he  walls  of  Mount  Zion. 
Nothing  or  no  spot  is  spared.  So,  of  course,  the 
"  City  of  the  Enchanters"  must  be  disenchanted. 
But,  then,  we  ought  hardly  to  call  it  disenchantment 
either.  These  telegraph  lines,  reaching  out  from  the 
"  City  of  the  Caliphs,"  and  with  the  "  voices  of  their 
tongues  of  fire"  speaking  across  the  surrounding 
deserts,  whispering  beneath  the  seas  to  distant  con- 
tinents, are  greater  magicians  than  the  magicians  of 
old.  There  are  four  of  these  telegraphic  lines  passing 
out  from  Bagdad:  one  runs  up  the  Tigris  to  Mosul, 
and  on  to  Constantinople ;  another  runs  to  Persia 
and  India;  still  another  to  Hillah  and  Basrah,  to- 
ward the  south ;  and  a  fourth  crosses  the  Syrian  des- 
ert to  Aleppo. 

Upon  the  Tigris,  directly  in  front  of  the  city,  where 
formerly  swam  the  barges  of  the  caliphs,  may  gen- 
erally be  seen  two  or  three  of  the  fifteen  steamers  en- 
ofao-ed  in  the  commerce  of  the  river.  One  of  these 
vessels  is  in  the  service  of  the  English  government ; 
two  belong  to  a  private  English  company,  and  con- 
nect at  Basrah  with  the  India  mail  line.  The  others 
belong  to  the  Turkish  government,  but  are  most  of 
them  manned  by  English  officers.  There  are  also 
many  native  sailing-vessels  engaged  in  the  traffic 
of  the  river :  kellics,  similar  to  those  employed  on 
the  Upper  Tigris,  are  occasionally  freighted  for 
Basrah ;    but  the   current   of  the  river  is  too   slow 


198  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

and  UDcertain  to  render   their   employment   advan- 
tageous. 

Various  modern  innovations  are  making  their  way 
slowly  into  Bagdad.  Steam-power  is  used  in  several 
instances  for  raising  water  from  the  river  for  pur- 
poses of  irrigation.  At  the  time  of  our  visit  pipes 
were  being  laid  for  supplying  the  city  with  water, 
which  was  to  be  elevated  from  the  Tigris  by  means 
of  steam  -  engines.  Gas-pipes  had  also  just  arrived 
from  England,  and  Bagdad  was  to  be  lighted  like 
any  Christian  city.  As  at  Cairo,  the  spirit  of  reform 
seemed  to  have  taken  the  shape  of  street  improve- 
ment. The  Consulate's  street,  which,  for  the  thor- 
oughffire  of  an  Eastern  city,  was  creditably  straight 
and  wide,  was  being  rendered  still  more  commodious 
by  a  municipal  regulation  requiring  that  those  build- 
ings whose  front  walls  tumbled  down  should  have 
them,  when  restored,  placed  two  yards  back  from 
their  former  position.  Many  jags  were  thus  occur- 
ring in  the  line  of  walls ;  and  as  many  of  the  build- 
ings seemed  alarmingly  disposed  to  precipitate  them- 
selves into  the  street,  we  had  great  encouragement 
to  hope  for  the  early  completion  of  the  improvement. 
And  thus,  notwithstanding  the  avariciousness  of  the 
pashas  of  Bagdad,''''  and  the   impecuniosity  of  the 


*  Tlie  present  Pasha  of  Bagdad — not  as  a  matter  of  i)nblic  economy, 
but  of  personal  profit — discharges,  at  times,  the  salaries  of  the  officers 
of  the  Tigris  steamers  with   bricks  extracted  from  tlio  city  wall,  or 


BAGDAD.  ;[99 

Turkish  government,  together  with  its  profound  apa- 
thy respecting  the  welfare  of  the  cities  of  the  prov- 
inces, this  ancient  city  of  the  caliphs  is  awaking  from 
the  dreams  of  the  Arabian  Nights,  and  its  Rip  Van 
Winkle  sleep  of  centuries,  and  under  the  inspiration 
of  modern  ideas  seems  to  promise  the  restoration  of 
somewhat  of  that  prosperity  which  characterized  it 
when  the  brilliant  seat  of  the  Vicars  of  th':)  Prophet 
of  Allah. 


forces  them  to  receive  soap,  obtained  advantageously  at  Constantino- 
ple, which  they  must  dispose  of  at  ruinous  rates  in  the  bazaars.  Kep- 
pel,  writing  in  1824,  says  that  the  pasha  then  in  power  paid  the  troops 
in  tol:)acco,  from  the  sale  of  whicli  tliey  failed  to  realize  half  the  amount 
of  their  pay. 


200  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE    KUINS    OF    BABYLON. 

Present  Condition  of  Babylonia. — Ancient  Canals.— Nalir  Malcha.— 
Former  State  of  Babylonia. — An  Oasis.— Mountains  of  Ruins.— Gen- 
eral Appearance  of  the  Site  of  Babylon.— Palace-Mounds. — El-Kasr. 
— Babylonian  Bricks  and  Masonry.— A  Sculptured  Lion. — A  Vener- 
able Tree. — View  from  the  Kasr.— Mound  of  Amran. — Ruins  of  Ne- 
riglissar's  Palace.— Walls  of  the  Royal  Quarter.— The  Hanging  Gar- 
dens.— The  Mujelibee.— Objections  to  Considering  it  the  Remains 
of  the  Temple  of  Belus.— Birs  Nimrud.— Description  of  the  Mound. 
—A  Babylonian  Temple.— Conflicting  Theories  respecting  the  Ruiu. 
—Probable  Identification  of  the  Birs  with  the  Tower  of  Babel. — 
Chaldpean  Traditions. — Fire-blasted  Appearance  of  the  Ruins  ex- 
plained.—Designs  of  the  First  Builders.— Testimony  of  the  Inscrip- 
tions.—The  Walls  of  Babylon.— The  Fulfillment  of  Prophecy. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  spot  in  the  Eastern  world, 
save  it  be  Jerusalem,  richer  in  interesting  associa- 
tions to  both  the  scholar  and  Christian  than  the  site 
of  ancient  Babylon — the  "  beauty  of  the  Chaldee's  ex- 
cellency," the  city  of  "  pleasant  palaces,"  whose  peo- 
ple dwelt  carelessly,  in  haughty,  luxurious,  and  defi- 
ant indulgence ;  the  scene  of  the  long  and  bitter  cap- 
tivity of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  the  Avitness  to 
the  utter  fulfillment  of  the  most  vivid  and  startling 
prophecies  uttered  by  the  seers  of  olden  times. 

To  stand  amid  the  "  heaps  "  of  Babylon,  and  read 
for  ourselves  the  story  of  her  present  desolation,  was, 


THE   RUINS  OF  BABYLON.  OQl 

in  all  our  visions  of  Eastern  travel,  looked  forward 
to  with  tbe  most  ardent  anticipations.  We  need 
scarcely  add,  then,  that  but  a  few  days  w^ere  allowed 
to  elapse,  after  our  arrival  at  Bagdad,  before  we  had 
made  all  the  preparations  necessary  for  a  visit  to  the 
ruins,  which  lie  only  about  fifty  miles  from  Bagdad, 
in  a  direction  slightly  west  of  south.  Respecting 
the  journey  itself — which  we  accomplished  in  three 
easy  stages — we  will  introduce  only  such  notes  as 
may  be  of  use  in  sh owning  the  present  state  of  the 
once  fertile  provinces  of  Babylonia. 

Immediately  on  leaving  the  gardens  of  Bagdad 
we  entered  upon  a  half  sterile  plain,  thinly  clothed 
in  depressed  spots  with  spring  verdure,  but  other- 
wise relieved  only  by  the  low  desert  shrub  known 
as  the  camel's  thorn.  The  long,  heavy  banks  of  an- 
cient canals  intersected  the  plain  in  every  direction, 
showing  with  what  care  and  labor  the  waters  of  the 
Tigris  and  Euphrates  were  formerly  distributed  over 
the  entire  face  of  the  country.  One  is  astonished  at 
the  size  and  number  of  these  ancient  conduits,  which 
cover  the  plain  like  a  net-w^ork.  Some  of  them  are 
from  forty  to  fifty  feet  wide,  with  embankments  still 
measuring,  in  their  crumbled  condition,  twenty  or 
twenty-five  feet  in  height.  We  observed  that  the 
bottom  of  the  canals,  in  the  case  of  the  larger  and 
more  ancient  ones,  was  invariably  higher,  by  several 
feet,  than  the  level  of  the  surrounding  plain.     If  the 


202 


REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 


embankments  were  originally  formed  solely  by  the 
earth  taken  from  the  trench,  as  they  doubtless  were, 
then  even  the  complete  destruction  of  these  would 
no  more  than  restore  the  original  level.  Hence  their 
present  condition  may  evidence  the  fact  of  the  en- 
largement of  the  banks  by  the  sand  removed  in  fre- 


ANCIKM'    liABYLOXIAN    CANALS. 


quent  cleanings  necessitated  by  the  deposits  of  the 
burdened  waters  of  inundation.  The  choking  of 
these  irrigants  has  also  been  largely  aided  by  the 
drifting  sands,  whirled  into  them  by  the  wind — the 
long  lines  of  embankments  serving  as  excellent  break- 
sands. 


THE   RUINS   OF   BABYLON.  203 

About  one  day's  journey  from  Bagdad  we  crossed 
the  Nahr  Malcba,  or  "Royal  River,"  a  grand  ship- 
canal,  the  supposed  work  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and 
possibly  the  Chebar  of  Ezekiel,  uniting  the  Tigris 
and  Euphrates.  Running  parallel  with  this  was  a 
smaller  channel,  like  the  former,  now  choked  with 
sand.  Sometimes  we  observed  as  many  as  three  par- 
allel lines  of  canals  in  close  proximity  to  one  another. 
It  seems  that  when  once  a  channel  became  filled 
with  sand  it  was  less  labor  to  excavate  a  new  one 
than  to  clear  out  the  old. 

From  the  Nahr  Malcha  we  traversed  for  an  entire 
day  a  plain  as  barren  as  the  Sahara,  there  being  noth- 
ing to  redeem  its  sterility  save  scattering  clumiDS  of 
the  desert  thorn,  which  the  mirage  converted  into  in- 
viting  groves  of  palms  along  the  distant  horizon. 
During  the  first  part  of  the  day  we  traveled  "from 
mirage  to  mirage ;"  but  toward  mid-day  the  east  wind 
had  strengthened  to  a  gale,  and  clouds  of  dust  and 
sand  were  whirling  over  the  desert,  obscuring  every 
thing,  and  compelling  us  to  veil  our  faces.  During 
the  day  we  were  fairly  startled  thus:  Upon  a  little 
lull  occurring  in  the  sand-storm,  we  discovered  a 
chariot  with  horses  looming  up  on  the  mirage, 
ensconced  in  clouds  of  dust.  In  our  perturbed 
state  of  mind  we  could  think  of  nothing  save  the 
chariot  of  Elijah,  which  we  had  been  told  about  in 
our  younger  days.      It  proved  to    be  the  carriage 


204  KEMAINS    OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

of  the  Pasha  of  Bagdad,  who  was  returning  from 
a  visit  to  Hillah.  We  were  glad  when  toward  even- 
ing we  reached  Khan  Mohawil,  our  station  for  the 
night. 

This  caravansary  was  situated  on  the  line  of  a 
modern  canal,  filled  with  a  broad  stream  from  the 
Euphrates.  By  the  side  of  this  living  canal  ran  a 
larger  and  older  channel,  filled  with  sand ;  and  par- 
allel to  this,  still  another,  also  choked  and  dry. 
Hard  by  the  khan  was  a  little  cluster  of  native  huts, 
and  some  irrigated  patches  of  grain  and  a  single 
grove  of  date-palms — ^just  enough  to  show  how  the 
barrenness  of  the  desert  might  be  converted  into  the 
beauty  of  a  garden,  and  made  to  "blossom  as  the 
rose."  But  the  rapacity  of  the  Turkish  government 
leads  it,  by  a  short-sighted,  suicidal  policy,  to  la}^ 
such  a  tax  upon  the  waters  of  the  canal  that  its  util- 
ization in  redeeming  the  desert  adjoining  its  course 
is  discouraged ;  and  thus,  instead  of  leading  a  broad 
strij^  of  verdure  through  the  country,  it  has  only  a 
very  scanty  and  broken  fringe  of  irrigated  fields. 
Under  different  rule,  every  foot  of  this  desert  might 
be  restored  to  its  former  state,  for  the  natural  fecun- 
dity of  the  rich  alluvium  is  still  as  great  as  formerly, 
and  needs  only  the  magic  touch  of  water  to  change 
its  forbidding  waste  into  nodding  fields.  All  the 
eai'ly  writers,  especially  Herodotus,  Xenoj^hori,  and 
Berosus,  are  almost  extravagant  when  they  come  to 


THE   RUINS   OF   BABYLON.  205 

speak  of  the  productiveness  of  the  soil  of  Baljylouia. 
Herodotus  is  reluctant  to  tell  the  truth,  for  fear  that 
his  veracity  may  be  doubted.*  The  luxuriance  of 
the  vegetation  that  characterizes  the  little  spot  of 
verdure  created  wherever  the  water  is  led  out  upon 
the  desert  shows  that  the  capabilities  of  the  country 
under  the  system  of  careful  irrigation  that  prevailed 
in  the  times  of  the  Babylonian  kings  could  scarcely 
admit  of  overstatement. 

The  little  oasis  about  Khan  Mohawil  reminded  us 
of  that  beautiful  little  spot  of  verdure  called  Ismailia, 
on  the  line  of  the  Suez  Canal.  Its  isolation,  the  in- 
terminable expanse  of  encompassing  desert,  the  line 
of  water  held  by  heavy  embankments  traversing  this 
wilderness  of  sand — these  features  of  the  Babylonian 
scene  made  us  almost  believe  that  we  were  again  on 
the  Libyan  oasis. 

But  what  interested  us  most  in  the  view  we  ob- 
tained from  the  summit  of  the  lofty  embankments 
was  what  seemed  a  low  hill  rising  out  of  the  desert 
away  to  the  south.  There  are  no  natural  eminences 
on  the  Babylonian  plains,  and  so  we  knew  that  the 

*  "  This  is  of  all  lands  with  which  we  are  familiar  by  far  the  best  for 
growth  of  com.  .  .  .  When  it  produces  its  best,  it  jdelds  even  three- 
hundred-fold.  The  blades  of  wheat  and  barley  grow  there  to  full  four 
fingers  in  breadth ;  and  though  I  well  know  to  what  a  height  millet 
and  sesama  grow,  I  shall  not  mention  it ;  for  I  am  well  assured  that  to 
those  who  have  never  l^een  in  the  Babylonian  country  what  has  been 
said  respecting  its  productions  will  appear  incredible." — Herodotus, 
bk.  i.,  §193. 


206  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

hill  which  we  saw  was  a  mountain  of  ruins — one  of 
the  "  heaps  "  of  Babylon. 

The  following  morning  we  crossed  the  triple  line 
of  canals,  and  pushed  eagerly  across  the  desert  to- 
ward the  mound  of  which  we  had  caught  a  distant 
view  the  previous  evening.  As  we  approached,  its 
dimensions  swelled  into  enormous  proportions,  that 
seemed  to  impress  as  absurd  the  idea  of  its  being  the 
work  of  man.  We  rode  alongside  its  lofty  walls  of 
earth,  wondering  at  its  immense  mass ;  and  then,  dis- 
mounting, we  clambered  uj)  a  deep  ravine,  worn  by 
the  rains  of  many  centuries,  and  stood  upon  its  lofty 
summit.  We  saw  nothing  save  the  Euphrates,  wan- 
dering through  a  plain  covered  with  enormous  mounds 
like  the  one  we  were  upon.  A  desert — a  river — 
o-reat  heaps  of  earth — these  are  not  the  usual  el- 
ements in  that  view  which  most  interests  or  im- 
presses us.  Yet  it  is  needless  that  we  witness  that 
that  very  absence  of  grandeur,  that  very  desolation, 
connecting  themselves  as  the}^  do  with  the  high  pur- 
poses of  heaven  and  the  verities  of  history,  were  to 
us  more  thrillingly  impressive  than  all  the  architect- 
ural glories  we  had  seen  gathered  on  the  ancient 
sites  of  the  Roman  world. 

We  spent  three  days  in  examining  and  comparing 
the  different  mounds,  and  in  fixing  in  our  mind  the 
principal  topographical  features  of  the  district,  which 
was  doubtless  embraced  by  the  walls  of  Babylon. 


THE   RUINS   OF   BABYLON. 


207 


And  now,  in  describing  the  various  masses  of  ruins, 
we  will  disregard  the  order  in  which  we  visited 
them,  and  will  speak  of  the  mounds  in  such  succes- 


FLAK   OP   THE   MOUNDS   OP   BABYliON. 

sion  as  we  think  will  give  the  most  intelligent  view 
of  the  remains  which  the  great  structures  of  Babylon 
have  left  behind  them. 


208  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

Pursuing  this  j^lau,  we  will  examine  first  the  ruin- 
ed palaces,  both  for  the  reason  of  the  interest  which 
attaches  itself  to  these,  and  also  because  of  the  cer- 
tainty with  which  particular  mounds  may  be  identi- 
fied as  the  remains  of  the  residences  of  certain  Baby- 
lonian kings;  then  we  will  pass  to  other  mounds, 
not  less  prominent  masses  of  ruins  than  those  that 
mark  the  site  of  the  palatial  edifices,  but  the  identifi- 
cation of  any  of  which  with  any  particular  Baby- 
lonian structure  is  still  a  matter  of  controversy,  but 
in  some  of  which,  without  reasonable  doubt,  we  may 
find  the  ruins  of  the  Hanging  Gardens,  the  Temj^le 
or  Tomb  of  Belus,  and  the  Tower  of  Babel. 

The  Babylonian  palaces  were,  like  those  of  Assyria, 
lifted  to  a  commanding  height  by  massive  substruc- 
tions or  platforms  constructed  of  sun-dried  bricks, 
while  the  walls  of  the  palaces  themselves  were  built 
of  the  same  material,  and  these  incased  with  more 
durable  kiln -burned  bricks,  or  they  were  entirely 
constructed  of  the  latter.  In  their  decay  these 
structures  have  loaded  the  platforms  which  they 
surmounted  with  great  masses  of  ruins;  and  thus 
the  grand  palace-mounds  of  Babylon  present  exactl} 
the  same  features  as  the  Assyrian  palace  -  mounds 
which  we  have  already  seen  at  Nineveh. 

The  most  interesting  of  the  Babylonian  palace- 
mounds  is  the  one  called  by  the  natives  El-Kasr, 
which  has  been  identified  as  the  remains  of  the  royal 


THE   RUINS   OF   BABYLON.  209 

residences  constructed  by  Nebuchadnezzar.  It  is  the 
central  one  of  three  immense  masses  of  ruins  that  lie 
close  by  the  Euphrates,  five  or  six  miles  above  the 
modern  Arab  villao-e  of  Hillah.  This  mound  forms 
almost  a  perfect  square,  being  seven  hundred  yards 
in  length,  and  about  as  many  in  breadth,  with  an 
elevation  of  from  seventy  to  ninety  feet,  twenty  or 
thirty  feet  of  which  height  is  the  debris  of  the  palace 
buildino-s.  Thus  this  enormous  mass  of  ruins  covers 
an  area  of  more  than  one  hundred  acres.  The  top  of 
the  mound  is  very  irregular,  having  been  dug  into 
in  every  direction  by  the  natives  in  search  of  bricks. 
The  ruins  of  Babylon  have  been  an  inexhaustible 
quarry  for  more  than  twenty  centuries.  Seleucus 
Nicator  is  said,  and  probably  with  truth,  to  have 
constructed  his  capital  city,  Seleucia  on  the  Tigris, 
of  material  transported  by  means  of  the  canals  then 
existing  from  Babylon.  Following  his  example, 
almost  all  subsequent  builders  of  cities,  caravan, 
saries,  or  structures  of  any  kind  in  the  adjoining 
regions  have  laid  these  ruins  under  heavy  contribu- 
tion. 

From  some  natives  eno-ao-ed  in  this  work  of  ex- 
huming  bricks  we  obtained  a  very  fine  specimen. 
The  stamp  it  bears  is  that  of  Nebuchadnezzar — all 
of  the  bricks  found  in  this  mound  being  impressed 
with  the  name  and  title  of  that  king.  The  brick 
is  thirteen  inches  square,  and  three  and  a  half  inch- 


210 


REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 


BABYLONIAN   BRICK. 


es  thick.  This  is  the  averao;e  size  of  all  the 
baked  bricks  found  in  the  ruins,  the  dimensions 
of  none  ever  varying  more  than  one  inch  from  these 
figures. 

Although  the  greater  portion  of  the  surface  of 
the  Kasr  mound  is  covered  with  shapeless  heaps  of 
debris^  there  is  a  sjngle  mass  of  solid  masouiy  still 
remaining — a  portion  of  the  palace  wall,  eight  feet 
in  thickness,  constructed  of  well -burned  bricks,  so 
strongly  cemented  together  that  the  bricks  are  broken 
in  the  effort  to  remove  them.  We  spent  more  than 
an  hour  m\)0\\  different  portions  of  this  wall  in  un- 
successful efforts  to  obtain  an  uninjured  specimen, 
for  the  sake  of  the  very  fine  impression  which  each 
brick  bears. 

Toward  the  northern  edge  of  this  "  Palace"  mound, 
for  such  is  the  meaning  of  the  native  name  Kasr,  is 


THE   RUINS   OF  BABYLON. 


211 


BABYLONIAN  LION. 


a  very  interesting  relic  of  Babylonian  art — a  roughly 
hewn  sculpture  in  basalt,  representing  a  lion  stand- 
ing over  a  prostrate  man.* 
The  sketch  made  by  Keppel        ..^^   — 
is  one  of  the  best  represen- 
tations we  have  seen  of  this 
curious  piece  of  rude  sculpt- 
uring, to  which  a  special  in- 
terest attaches,  as  it  is  the 
only    specimen,  of   Babylo- 
nian  sculpture  "in  the  round"  that  has  been   dis- 
covered.f 

Some  have  supposed  this  figure  to  be  commem- 
orative of  the  casting  of  Daniel  into  the  lion's  den, 
urging  in  support  of  this  view  the  very  natural  sup- 
position that  such  an  event  in  the  life  of  one  who 
came  afterward  to  be  governor  of  Babylon  would 
be  commemorated  by  some  such  monument.;^  Un- 
supported as  this  view  is  by  any  inscription,  we  can 
regard  it  only  as  a  conjecture,  if  not  a  probable  one, 


*  Respecting  the  size  of  the  figure,  Keppel  says  :  "  The  length  of  the 
pedestal,  the  height  of  the  shoulders,  and  the  length  of  the  statue, 
measured  in  each  of  their  respective  parts  nine  feet." — "  Travels,"  p. 
132.  M.  Oppert,  as  quoted  by  Rawlinson,  states  the  length  of  the  lion 
as  "four  miters,''''  or  thirteen  and  a  half  feet,  and  its  height  "three  miters. 
or  nine  feet  ten  inches."  We  did  not  measure  the  statue,  but  are  of 
opinion  that  the  latter  figures  are  the  more  nearly  correct ;  the  propor- 
tions are  certainly  not  such  as  are  indicated  by  Keppel. 

t  Rawlinson,  "  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol  ii.,  p.  558. 

X  Keppel,  "  Travels,"  p.  123. 


212  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

at  least  one  tliat  has  the  advantage  of  not  being  easily 
disproved. 

There  is  another  object  of  interest  upon  the  Kasr 
mound,  standing  near  this  basaltic  statue.  This  is  a 
venerable  tree,  a  species  of  tamarisk,  called  by  the 
Arabs  athele^  and  supposed  by  those  who  believe 
that  the  ruins  of  the  Hanging  Gardens  are  to  be 
looked  for  amid  the  heaps  of  the  Kasr  mound  to  be 
a  relic  of  the  trees  that  shaded  those  elevated  pleas- 
ure-grounds of  Queen  Amytis.  This  tree  has  been 
noted  by  each  successive  visitor  to  the  ruins  of 
Babylon,  it  being  the  only  tree  growing  on  any  of 
the  mounds,  save  a  date-palm  that  rises  from  the 
inclosure  of  a  Mohammedan  waly  that  crowns  the 
mound  of  Amran.  We  found  it  dead ;  its  old  de- 
caying trunk  and  blasted  limbs  in  more  appropriate 
keeping  with  the  desolation  of  the  ruins  than  its  life 
and  foliage  of  former  years.  Its  advancing  old  age 
has  been  so  frequently  alluded  to  that  we  deem  no 
apology  needed  for  this  record  of  its  death. 

The  view  from  this  palace-mound  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  to  be  gained  from  the  summit  of  any 
of  the  ruins.  Fragments  of  brick  and  pottery  are 
strewn  over  the  surface  of  the  mass,  and  the  soil  is 
white  with  nitre  derived  from  the  bituminous  mor- 
tar, so  that  the  mound  is  absolutely  barren  of  vegeta- 
tion. The  same  is  true  of  all  the  other  mounds  and 
ramparts  that  make  up  the  desolate   surroundings. 


THE   RUINS   OF   BABYLON.  213 

South  of  tlie  mound  the  ground,  though  above  the 
waters  of  inundation,  presents  the  appearance  of  a 
recently  dried-up  salt  marsh.  It  is  covered  in  part 
with  tufts  of  swamp  grass,  and  the  soil  is  impreg- 
nated with  nitre,  which  forms  a  sort  of  saline  crust 
that  breaks  beneath  the  foot.  A  very  different  scene 
from  what  Nebuchadnezzar  surveyed  when  he  walked 
the  terraces  of  this  his  grand  palace,  and  spake  thus 
to  himself:  "Is  not  this  great  Babylon,  that  I  have 
built  for  the  house  of  the  kingdom  by  the  might  of 
my  power,  and  foi'  the  honor  of  my  majesty  ?"* 


*  Dan.  iv.  30.  We  can  not  forbear  calling  attention  to  the  remarks 
of  Dr.  Pusey  (in  his  "  Lectures  on  Daniel,"  2tl  ecL,  p.  428)  upon  the  mad- 
ness of  Nebuchadnezzar,  which  apparently,  from  the  narrative,  fell  upon 
liim  immediately  on  the  utterance  of  these  words.  He  says  that  the 
atliiction  was  a  disease  known  as  lycanthropy,  in  which  the  sufferer 
imagines  himself  to  be  some  animal,  and  acts  as  though  he  really 
were.  The  Greek  writers  make  mention  of  such  a  form  of  insanity. 
Dr.  Browne,  Commissioner  of  the  Board  of  Lunacy  for  Scotland,  whom 
the  above  writer  quotes,  says :  "  I  was  accustomed  to  distinguish  a 
class  of  my  patients  as  foecophagi,  or  eaters  of  ordure;  and  another 
class  as  sarcophagi,  individuals  who  have  desired  to  eat,  or  who  have 
conceived  that  they  have  eaten,  or  who  have  attempted  to  eat,  human 
flesh ;  and  a  third  class  as  phytophagi,  who  devour  grass,  leaves,  twigs, 
etc.     I  have  had  such  cases,  as  well  as  stone-swallowers,"  etc. 

While  pathology  thus  silences  those  who  have  endeavored  to  cast 
ridicule  upon  the  Scriptural  account  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  malady,  his- 
tory, as  read  in  the  inscriptions  of  that  king,  also  comes  forward  to 
witness  to  the  reliableness  of  the  Biblical  record.  The  "  Standard  In- 
scription" tells  us  that  for  a  certain  period  of  time  Nebuchadnezzar 
ceased  all  his  great  works,  and  that  all  his  undertakings  were  at  a 
stand.  The  weight  of  this  as  corroborative  evidence  will  be  at  once 
appreciated.  Vide  Rawlinson's  "  Historical  Evidences,"  p.  137.  Pro- 
fessor Fiske,  in  his  "  Myth  and  Myth-makers,"  collects  some  of  the  most 
remarkable  cases  of  lycanthropy. 


214  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

Hard  by  the  ruined  palace,  on  the  north,  growing 
upon  the  low  deposits  of  the  river,  are  some  willows 
overhanging  the  watercourses.  They  were  just  flow- 
ering at  the  time  of  our  visit,  and  while  gathering 
from  them  souvenirs  we  could  hardly  forbear  think- 
ing of  that  lament,  containing  the  soul  of  pathos, 
uttered  by  the  homesick  captives  of  Israel  when 
called  to  sing  the  song  of  Zion  in  the  land  of  their 
exile :  And  they  hung  their  harps  on  the  willows  by 
the  river,  and  said,  ''How  shall  we  sing  the  Lord's 
song  in  a  strange  land  V 

Separated  from  the  Kasr  ruin  by  the  marsh  re- 
fen-ed  to  above  is  the  somewdiat  larger,  irregular, 
deeply  furrowed  mound  of  Amran.  It  repeats  so 
nearly  the  features  of  the  Kasr  that  any  particular 
descrij^tion  of  it  is  unnecessary.  This  heap  marks 
the  site  of  the  residences  of  the  earlier  Babylonian 
kings.  This  identification  is  abundantly  established 
by  the  notices  of  ancient  writers — who  fix  its  posi- 
tion relative  to  the  later  structure  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
— and  by  recent  research. 

Upon  the  western  bank  of  the  Tigris,  facing  the 
mound  of  Amran,  are  traces  of  extensive  ramparts, 
inclosing  a  large  area,  where  are  found  remains  of 
an  extensive  building,  which  the  stamp  borne  by  all 
the  bricks  indicate  as  the  palace  of  Neriglissar.  An 
inscribed  cylinder  discovered  here  also  ascribes  the 
erection  of  the  building  to  that  king. 


THE   RUINS   OF  BABYLON.  0^5 

Such,  tlien,  are  the  remains  that  the  royal  resi- 
dences, the  "  pleasant  palaces  "  of  Babylon,  have  left 
to  mark  their  ancient  sites.  Besides  the  palace- 
mounds  themselves  and  their  crowning  ruins,  there 
are  extensive  lines  of  ramparts,  which  represent  the 
old  walls  that  inclosed  these  edifices,  which,  thus  de- 
fended, constituted  the  citadel  of  the  city,  or  what 
has  been  called  the  "  Royal  Quarter."  The  enceinte 
of  the  palaces  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river  embraced, 
as  indicated  by  the  existing  ramparts,  a  triangular 
area  about  seven  miles  in  circuit.  The  Euphrates 
seemed  to  have  formed  the  western  defense.  The 
walls  that  inclosed  the  remaining  sides  have,  in 
crumbling,  left  the  heavy  earthen  ramparts  referred 
to,  which,  though  not  quite  continuous,  may  be 
traced,  often  in  double  line,  for  an  aggregate  distance 
of  four  or  five  miles  over  the  plain. 

Besides  the  two  palace-mounds  already  described, 
there  are  numerous  other  heaps  of  ruins,  of  various 
dimensions,  lying  within  this  vast  inclosure.  One 
of  these  deserves  particular  mention,  as  it  has  been 
thought  by  some  to  be  the  remains  of  the  famous 
Hanging  Gardens.  This  is  a  lofty  reddish  mound, 
the  El-Homeira  of  the  natives,  about  three  hundred 
yards  in  length,  lying  only  a  short  distance  from  the 
Kasr.  As  respects  the  identification  of  this  or  any 
other  Babylonian  ruin  with  the  celebrated  Hanging 
Gardens,  we  may  observe  that  all  theories  upon  the 


216  EEMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

subject  are  highly  conjectural.  Quiutus  Curtius  ex- 
pressly states  that  it  stood  upon  the  Palace  (Kasr) 
mound,  in  close  proximity  to  the  royal  residences  of 
Nebuchadnezzar.  For  this  reason  Keppel  and  many 
others  following  him  search  among  the  dehris,  of  that 
mound  for  the  remains  of  the  structure.  Rawlinson 
thinks  that  some  of  the  heaps  lying  between  the 
Kasr  and  Amran  mounds  may,  perhaps,  be  the  ruins 
for  w^hich  we  are  searching.  Others,  as  already  inti- 
mated, consider  the  claims  of  the  El-Homeira  as  bet- 
ter founded ;  and  not  a  few  insist  that  the  massive 
Mujelihee  (a  mound  we  shall  presently  proceed  to  ex- 
amine) is  the  only  ruin  worthy  of  representing  the 
second  wonder  of  Babylon. 

And  as  the  identification  of  the  actual  site  of 
the  Hanging  Gardens  must — at  least  till  further  re- 
search discovers  some  monument  that  shall  throw  ad- 
ditional light  upon  the  subject — be  relegated  to  the 
region  of  doubt  and  conjecture,  so,  respecting  the 
form  of  the  building,  we  are  left  in  so  much  of  un- 
certainty that  a  restoration  of  the  structure  can  hard- 
ly be  attempted.  M.  Oppert  has,  however,  ventured 
to  form  a  plan  of  the  work.  He  makes  the  edifice 
rise  in  successive  terraces,  eight  or  nine  in  number, 
of  constantly  decreasing  size,  so  as  to  form  a  huge 
pyramidal  pile.  The  effect  of  such  a  structure,  with 
the  rising  terraces  loaded  with  every  kind  of  trees, 
could  not  be  otherwise  than  strikingly  beautiful. 


THE   RUINS   OF   BABYLON.  217 

Rawlinson,  on  the  other  hand,  without  attempting 
a  reconstruction,  gives  as  his  opinion  that  the  struct- 
ure was  lifted  in  tiers  of  arches,  placed  one  upon  the 
other  in  such  a  manner  that  the  face  of  the  wall  was 
"  a  single  perpendicular  line."  We  were,  at  first,  at 
a  loss  to  conceive  liow  these  two  writers  should  have 
come  to  entertain  such  different  conceptions  of  the 
edifice.  But  after  examination  we  found  that  the  lat- 
ter had  received  his  impressions  respecting  the  form 
of  the  edifice  from  Diodorus,  who  says  that  "  its  ap- 
pearance was  that  of  a  theatre."  But  Diodorus  neg- 
lects to  tell  us  whether  the  view  he  has  in  mind  be 
an  interior  or  exterior  one.  It  is  from  this  obscurity, 
we  infer,  that  has  arisen  the  difference  of  opinion  re- 
specting the  construction  of  the  gardens.  The  recon- 
struction of  M.  Oppert  presents  no  more  resemblance 
to  the  exterior  of  a  Roman  theatre  than  does  the  pyr- 
amid of  Cheops,  but  it  does  mimic  well  the  eftects 
of  the  risino;  tiers  of  seats  within.  Hence  it  seems 
that  it  was  the  interior  appearance  of  a  theatre  that 
the  French  antiquarian  had  in  mind  in  his  restora- 
tion. Ra^vlinson,  however,  when  he  makes  the  walls 
rise  perpendicular,  with  tiers  of  arch  over  arch,  draws 
his  conception  from  the  exterior  appearance  of  an  am- 
phitheatral  wall.  Quintus  Curtius  describes  the  gar- 
dens as  presenting  the  appearance  of  a  mountain 
clothed  with  forest.  The  terraced  structure  of  Op- 
pert,  w^ith  its  successive  elevations  shaded  with  vege- 


218  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

tation,  would  seem  to  imitate  very  exactly  the  appear- 
ance of  a  wooded  hill;  and  in  favor  of  the  other 
plan,  that  of  giving  the  edifice  perpendicular  walls,  it 
vv^ill  at  once  be  seen  that  the  appearance  of  the  trees 
crowning  the  lofty  wall  would  pleasingly  mimic  the 
effect  of  a  forest  overhanging  a  precipice.  The  Per- 
sian mountains,  especially  those  about  Ecbatana, 
abound  in  such  picturesque  views — lofty  and  rocky 
acclivities  crowned  with  vegetation;  and  if  the 
gardens  were,  as  there  is  no  good  reason  to  doubt, 
constructed  by  Nebuchadnezzar  for  the  gratifica- 
tion of  his  consort,  Amytis,  languishing  for  the 
scenery  of  her  native  Media,  we  may  suppose  that 
such  a  plan  of  structure  would  be  adopted  as  should 
most  faithfully  reproduce  one  of  the  most  striking 
features  of  the  views  afforded  by  that  mountainous 
country ;  and  especially  may  we  suppose  so  as  this 
would  necessitate  no  departure  from  the  usual  plan 
adopted  in  the  erection  of  such  structures.  Among 
all  the  bass-relief  representations  of  Assyrian  hanging 
gardens  discovered  by  Layard  at  Eoyunjik  and  Birs 
Nimrud  there  is  no  suggestion  of  the  pyramidal  plan 
of  building,  but  the  garden  is  invariably  formed  on  a 
single  roof,  supported  by  a  single  tier  of  arches  or 
pillars.  The  Babylonian  edifice,  we  may  reasonably 
suppose,  was  constructed  on  the  same  plan ;  only  with 
the  piers  and  arches  lifted  story  upon  story,  so  that 
the  surmounting  garden  should  overhang  the  city  at 
a  commanding:  heis'ht. 


THE  RUINS   OF   BABYLON. 


219 


Having  now  completed  our  survey  of  the  most  im- 
portant of  the  mounds  embraced  by  the  great  inclos- 
ure,we  must  proceed  to  the  examination  of  some  other 
important  ruins  lying  beyond  the  limits  of  the  "Koyal 
Quarters."  Just  without  the  ramparts,  about  one 
mile  north  of  the  Kasr  mound,  lies  an  enormous 
crumbled  mass,  called  by  the  Arabs  Mujelihee^  which, 
in   its  uncorrupt  form,  viz.,  Muhallaheh,  means  the 


MOUNT)   OF  MUJELIBEE   (BABIL). 


'''' overturned^     In  the  significance  of  this  name  some 
have  thouo;ht  to  find  a  monument  of  the  disastrous 


*  At  the  time  of  Layard's  visit  the  Arabs  seem  to  have  designated 
this  mound  by  the  term  Bahil;  and  Rawlinson,  following  that  writer, 
adopts  this  name.  But  the  earlier  visitors,  Rich  and  Ker  Porter,  dis- 
tinguished it  as  the  Mujelibee,  and  this  being  the  name  by  which  our 
Arabs  knew  it,  we  have  retained  the  same  in  our  description. 


220  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

fortunes  of  the  builders  of  the  "  First  Tower."  With 
the  exception  of  the  Birs  Nimrud,  which  will  here- 
after be  described,  the  Ifujelihee  is  the  most  impos- 
ing ruin  in  Babylonia.  It  forms  a  somewhat  irreg- 
ular square,  about  six  hundred  feet  both  in  length 
and  breadth;  and  this  enormous  mass  is  carried  up 
to  a  height  of  over  one  hundred  and  forty  feet.  It 
resembles  exactly  a  natural  hill ;  for,  being  composed 
of  sun-dried  bricks,  the  whole  exterior  portion  of  the 
mass  has  crumbled  into  earth,  and  the  rains  of  two- 
score  centuries  have  worn  out  deep  gullies  that  fur- 
row every  side  of  the  ruin,  and  form  hiding-]3laces  for 
the  different  animals  of  the  desert.  Wild  beasts,  no 
doubt,  often  seek  refuge  in  these  furrowed  mounds ; 
yet  in  climbing  up  the  ravines  of  the  Mujelihee  we 
started  up  nothing  more  dangerous  than  a  couple  of 
hares.  These  cuttings  serve  to  reveal  the  construc- 
tion of  the  mass,  which  appears  to  be  uniform  through- 
out. Layers  of  reeds  were  placed  between  the  courses 
of  brick,  and  these  have  been  so  remarkably  preserved 
that  they  can  still  be  drawn  out  by  handfuls  in  as 
perfect  a  condition  as  when  laid  twenty,  and  perhaps 
more,  centuries  ago.  Upon  the  summit,  toward  the 
southern  edge  of  the  mound,  a  fragment  of  solid  ma- 
sonry, composed  of  furnace  bricks,  is  visible. 

What  structure  of  ancient  Babylon  this  ruin  repre- 
sents is  a  matter  of  controversy.  Pietro  della  Valle 
thouo-ht  he  had  found  here  the  veritable  Tower  of 


THE   RUINS   OF   BABYLON.  221 

Babel,  and  this  opinion  Las  never  been  without  its 
supporters ;  others  have  thought  the  building  to  have 
been  an  astronomical  observatory  or  a  sepulchral 
monument ;  while  still  others  have  contended  that  it 
^vas  the  Temple  of  Belus  or  the  Hanging  Gardens. 
Amid  such  a  conflict  of  opinions  it  is  im]3ossible  to 
hope  to  arrive  at  any  entirely  satisfactory  conclusion. 
From  the  extensive  nature  of  the  ruin,  however,  we 
may  justly  infer  that  the  building,  whatever  may 
have  been  its  purpose,  was  one  of  the  most  imposing 
of  the  edifices  that  adorned  the  city  of  Babylon ;  and 
it  is  this  consideration  mainly  that  leads  Rawlinson 
to  suppose  the  ruin  in  question  to  be  that  of  the  cele- 
brated Temple  of  Belus,  which  all  the  ancient  writers 
concur  in  representing  as  the  chief  wonder  of  the  city 
and  the  grandest  monument  of  Babylonian  architect- 
ure. But  in  making  these  identical  he  creates  a  most 
stubborn  difficulty,  which  it  must  seem  to  most  he 
fails  to  dispose  of  satisfactorily.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  Temple  of  Belus,  as  we  learn  from  the  de- 
scriptions of  Herodotus,  was  constructed  in  the  form 
of  a  pyramid,  rising  in  seven  successive  stages  or  ter- 
races.*    Now  the  ruin  of  the  Mujelibee  consists  of  a 


*  Herodotus  thus  describes  the  structure  :  "  In  the  middle  of  each  di- 
vision of  the  city  fortified  buildings  were  erected ;  in  one  the  royal  pal- 
ace, with  a  strong,  spacious  inclosure,  brazen-gated ;  and  in  the  others, 
the  precincts  of  Jupiter  Belus,  which  in  my  time  was  still  in  existence, 
a  square  building  of  two  stades  on  every  side.  In  the  midst  of  this 
precinct  is  built  a  solid  tower  of  one  stade  both  in  length  and  breadth. 


222  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

single  platform ;  so,  if  we  suppose  it  to  be  the  remains 
of  that  ancient  temj^le,  and  receive  Herodotus's  ac- 
count of  its  form  as  correct,  we  must,  in  some  way, 
account  for  the  entire  disappearance  of  the  six  sur- 
mounting stages.  Their  removal  can  not  have  been 
effected  by  the  action  of  the  elements,  for  in  that  case 
the  summit  of  the  mound,  instead  of  being  flat,  as  it 
actually  is,  would  present  a  pyramidal  aj^pearance. 
The  demolition,  then,  if  such  there  have  been,  must 
have  been  the  work  of  man.  For  the  execution  of 
this  herculean  labor  Rawlinson  summons  to  his  aid 
ten  thousand  men  from  the  army  of  Alexander,  and 
employs  them  for  several  weeks  in  removing  the  de- 
bris— and  the  difficulty.  Alexander  certainly  set  his 
army  to  the  task  of  removing  the  rubbish  that  en- 
cumbered the  terraces  of  the  Temple  of  Belus — which 
had  been  previously  pillaged  and  left  in  a  ruinous 
condition  by  the  Persian  conquerors — but  as  his  ob- 
ject was  restoration,  not  destruction,  we  can  hardly 
suppose  that  he  busied  his  men  clearing  away  im- 
mense masses  of  brick-work  that  must  again  be  re- 
placed. 

We  withhold  assent  from  the  above  theory  not 

and  on  this  tower  rose  another,  and  another  upon  that,  to  the  number 
of  eight.  And  an  ascent  to  these  is  outside,  running  spirally  round  all 
the  towers.  About  the  middle  of  the  ascent  there  is  a  landing-place 
and  seats  to  rest  on,  on  which  those  who  go  up  sit  down  and  rest  them- 
selves; and  in  [upon]  the  uppermost  tower  stands  a  spacious  temple. 
And  in  this  temple  is  placed,  handsomely  furnished,  a  large  couch,  and 
by  its  side  a  table  of  gold." — Herodotus,  "  Clio,"  bk.  i.,  §  181. 


THE   RUINS   OF   BABYLON. 


223 


without  diffidence,  nor  a  full  appreciation  of  the  diffi- 
culties attending  the  identification  of  any  existing 
Babylonian  ruin  with  the  Temple  of  Belus ;  but  still, 
after  a  patient  comparison  of  conflicting  hypotheses, 


RUms   OF   BIRS  NIMRTJD. 


the  one  which  appears  to  us  most  probable  and  sat- 
isfactory is  this:  that  Herodotus  confounded  names, 
and  described  the  Temple  of  Nebo,  at  the  suburban 
town  of  Borsippa,  for  that  of  Belus,  situated  within 
the  city  walls.  The  tower-temple  of  Nebo,  as  we 
shall  see  a  little  later,  exactly  accords  with  the  de- 

Q 


224  KEMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

scription  by  fhe  historian.  If  we  accept  this  theory, 
then  we  may  regard  the  Mujelibee  as  representing 
the  Temple  of  Belus,  and  are  at  liberty  to  suppose 
that  the  principal  feature  of  the  edifice,  as  indicated 
by  this  ruin,  was  a  single  enormous  terrace  or  stage, 
surmounted  only  by  the  temple  building.  This  re- 
lieves us  of  the  labor  of  clearing  off  the  rubbish  of 
four  or  five  upper  stages.'^ 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  an  examination  of  the  Birs 
Nimrud  referred  to  in  the  preceding  paragraph. 
This  mound  is  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Eu- 
phrates, about  ten  miles  to  the  south  of  the  Mujeli- 
bee. It  towers  up  grandly  over  the  desert,  present- 
ing at  a  distance  the  appearance  of  a  castellated  hill. 
The  height  of  the  ruin  is  one  hundred  and  fifty-three 
feet  above  the  plain ;  but,  though  exceeding  the  ele- 
vation of  the  Mujelibee  by  twelve  or  fifteen  feet,  the 
rapid  decrease  in  its  dimensions  as  it  rises  causes  it 
to  lose  somewhat  of  that  impression  of  massiveness 
imparted  by  the  enormous  bulk  of  that  ruin.  The 
surmountins;  mass  of  brick-work  is  cleft  almost  from 
summit  to  base,  and  gapes  apart.  But  what  elicits 
the  greatest  feelings  of  wonder  are  the  vast  masses 
of  vitrified  brick  that  lie  heaped  upon  the  summit 
of  the  mound.     They  seemed  to  have  been  fused  by 

*  M.  Oppert  thinks  to  relieve  the  difficulty  by  making  Bel  and  Nebo 
identical,  and  considering  Borsippa  as  a  sort  of  suburb  of  Babylon,  ly- 
ing between  the  outer  and  the  inner  wall. 


THE   KUmS   OF  BABYLON.  225 

an  intense  heat,  and  while  in  a  half-molten  state  con- 
torted like  rock  strata. 

The  view  we  gained  from  the  summit  of  the  mound 
was  a  most  dreary  one :  west  and  northwest  the  des- 
ert was  inundated  from  the  overflow  of  the  Eu- 
phrates, and  presented  the  appearance  of  a  vast  sea, 
covered  with  low,  marshy  islands.  These  slightly 
elevated  spots  were  literally  crowded  with  the  mat- 
constructed  huts  of  the  Maydan,  or  "  unwise  "  Arabs ; 
and  surely  they  must  be  devoid  of  ordinary  wit  to 
lead  such  an  amphibious  life.  So  immense  was  the 
number  of  little  reed  huts  that  appeared  in  the  dis- 
tance, glistening  in  the  sunlight,  that  we  at  first 
thought  the  marshes  to  be  covered  with  vast  flocks 
of  water-fowls.  All  around  we  could  discover  the 
natives,  paddling  about  among  the  reeds  in  their  ca- 
noe-like skifts.  Fear  of  the  Turkish  government,  we 
were  told,  drives  these  Arabs  to  these  marshy  districts, 
where  they  may  be  safe  from  sudden  cavalry  raids. 

We  may  here  observe  that  the  inundation  of  the 
country  about  the  Birs  rendered  it  exceedingly  diffi- 
cult for  us  to  reach  the  mound.  Although  it  lies 
not  more  than  five  miles  in  a  direct  line  from  Hillah, 
we  were  obliged  to  make  a  detour  of  over  twice  that 
distance  in  order  to  reach  the  ruin.  In  one  instance 
one  of  the  little  donkeys  that  made  up  our  train 
sank  half  out  of  sight  in  a  marshy  place,  and  had  to 
be  lifted  out  bodily. 


226  REMAINS   OF   LOST    EMPIRES. 

At  the  base  of  the  tower-raound  on  the  southeast 
side — for  the  angles  of  the  pyramidal  ruin  face  the 
cardinal  points — is  an  extensive  quadrangular  mass 
of  crumbled  brick- work,  evidently  the  remains  of 
buildings  that  formed  the  adjuncts  of  the  temple 
that  surmounted  the  pyramid.  Separated  from  this 
by  a  distance  of  a  few  yards  is  another  deeply  fur- 
rowed mound,  of  still  larger  proportions  than  the 
one  immediately  adjoining  the  tower.  But  the  ruin 
to  which  the  greatest  interest  attaches  is,  of  course, 
the  pyramid  itself  Before  the  excavation  made  by 
Sir  Henry  Rawlinson,  the  only  indication  of  building 
to  be  seen  was  the  crowning  mass  of  masonry.  The 
action  of  the  elements  for  two  thousand  years  had  so 
crumbled  the  exterior  of  the  structure  as  to  conceal 
completely  its  artificial  construction,  so  that  the  mass 
was  by  those  that  first  visited  the  ruins  of  Babylon 
mistaken  for  a  hill.  Indeed,  quite  recently  Major 
Keunell,  in  a  paper  controverting  some  views  ad- 
vanced by  Rich  respecting  the  topography  of  the  an- 
cient city,  contended  that  this  mass  was  not  the  w^ork 
of  man,  but  a  natural  eminence.  But  Rawlinson 
laid  bare  some  of  the  terraces,  and  discovered  the 
exact  plan  of  the  tower.  It  was  simply  a  vast  pyra- 
mid, two  hundred  and  seventy  feet  in  length  and 
breadth  at  its  base,  rising  in  seven  successive  stages, 
each  smaller  than  the  one  it  rested  upon,  to  the 
height  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  feet  above  the 


THE   RUINS   OF   B2VBYLOK  227 

plain.  Surmounting  the  upper  terrace  was  tlie  shrine 
or  temple  proper,  a  fragment  of  which,  perhaps,  exists 
in  the  mass  of  masonry  already  referred  to  as  crow^n- 
insr  the  summit  of  the  mound. 

As  the  religion  of  the  Babylonians  was  a  sort  of 
Sabianism — the  adoration  of  the  "host  of  heaven" 
— their  temples  were  erected  with  a  view  to  astro- 
nomical observations.  The  great  temple -tower  of 
the  Birs  might  be  considered  a  temple  -  observatory. 
Each  stage  was  of  a  peculiar  color  to  represent  one 
of  the  seven  planets,  or  "  Seven  Spheres."  Various 
means  were  adopted  for  securing  the  desired  tints: 
thus  in  the  case  of  the  stages,  for  illustration,  assign- 
ed to  the  sun  and  moon,  it  is  evident  that  the  faces 
of  the  terraces  were  covered  respectively  with  plates 
of  gold  and  silver.*  This  elaborate  ornamentation 
must  have  given  the  structure  a  strikingly  gorgeous 
appearance,  which,  in  connection  with  its  imposing 
proportions,  must  have  struck  the  beholder  at  once 
with  awe  and  amazement. 

While  speaking  of  the  religion  of  the  Babylonians, 
we  must  call  attention,  by  a  single  remark,  to  the 
prominent  nature  of  the  religious  element  or  instinct 
in  the  Babylonian  character.  The  Biblical  record  of 
that  people  is  tinged  throughout  with  this  character- 
istic; and  now  the  researches  of  antiquarians  come 

*  "  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,"  vol.  xviii.,  art.  i.,  p.  6. 
Rawlinson,  "  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol;  ii.,  p.  586. 


228  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

in  to  reassert  the  same  fact,  and  to  show  what  pre- 
eminence, amid  all  sciences  and  learnings,  was  accord- 
ed to  the  worship  of  the  national  gods.  They  might 
justly  have  been  charged,  as  were  the  Greeks,  with 
being  in  all  things  too  superstitious.  All  over  the 
land  the  lofty  ziggurats^  or  towers,  of  the  temples 
arose  in  honor  of  the  deities  of  their  worship.  It  has 
been  estimated  that  the  number  of  mounds  upon  the 
Babylonian  plains  which  mark  the  sites  of  ancient 
temples  will  amount  to  many  hundreds.  Had  the 
Babylonians  possessed  requisite  building  material 
— something  besides  clay — the  Euphrates  would  to- 
day flow  amid  ruined  temples  of  architectural  grand- 
eur and  majesty  unrivaled  even  by  the  Karnacs  and 
Luxors  that  encumber  the  banks  of  the  Nile. 

The  Birs,  as  we  have  had  occasion  already  to  re- 
mark, was  considered  by  all  the  earlier  writers  upon 
the  topography  of  Babylon  as  the  remains  of  the 
famous  Temple  of  Belus,  which  so  excited  the  ad- 
miration of  the  Greek  writers,  and  which  was  classed 
as  one  of  the  seven  wonders  of  the  world.  But  the 
inscriptions,  as  suggested  before,  have  corrected  this 
error,  and  identified  the  ruin  with  the  Temple  of 
Nebo  that  stood  at  Borsi2:)pa.  But  another  ques- 
tion, of  more  interest  to  the  general  reader  than  that 
respecting  Bel  and  Nebo,  has  arisen  concerning  the 
identification  of  the  Birs  Nimrud  ruin  with  the  an- 
cient Tower  of  Babel :  for  we  must  not  necessarily 


THE   RUINS   OF   BABYLON.  229 

suppose  that  this  structure  was  afterward  included 
within  the  walls  of  Babylon  ;  and  so  the  question  as 
to  the  inclusion  of  the  Birs  Nimrud  within  the  city- 
limits  will  not  concern  us  while  pursuing  this  in- 
quiry. 

The  impression  has  always  obtained,  and  doubtless 
it  is  a  correct  one,  that  the  undertaking  of  the  first 
post-diluvians  to  construct  on  the  plains  of  Shinar 
a  monument  that  might  perpetuate  their  name,  while 
at  the  same  time  serving  as  a  central  attraction  on 
those  sea-like  expanses,  was  not  interrupted  by  the 
interference  of  Heaven  till  the  construction,  whatever 
nature  of  building  it  was,  had  so  far  advanced  as  to 
promise  a  successful  completion.  Hence  it  has  been 
assumed  that  a  structure  of  the  magnitude  which  the 
"  Tower  "  must  have  assumed  before  the  builders  were 
forced  to  desist  from  their  work  must  have  left  some 
prominent  remains  to  mark  the  site  of  the  great  un- 
dertaking. With  this  belief,  it  was  altogether  natu- 
ral that  the  early  visitors  to  the  ruins  that  lie  upon 
the  Chaldsean  plains  should  have  at  once  concluded 
that  the  Birs  Nimrud,  the  loftiest  mass  of  ruins  in 
Babylonia,  was,  without  doubt,  the  remains  of  the  an- 
cient Tower.  Its  great  height,  its  isolated  grandeur, 
its  comparative  proximity  to  those  masses  of  ruins 
that  were  undoubtedly  the  remains  of  the  Baby- 
lonian palaces,  all  conspired  to  strengthen  the  belief. 
The  actual  condition  of  the  crowning  masses  of  ma- 


230  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

soniy  confirmed,  in  the  mind  of  the  beholder,  the 
conviction  of  the  correctness  of  the  identification. 

It  was  a  notion  once  very  generally  entertained, 
and  which  still  exists  in  some  minds,  that  the  Babel 
structure  was  violently  overthrown  as  a  mark  of 
Heaven's  disapproval.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to 
observe  that  this  belief  finds  no  support  whatever  in 
the  Biblical  narrative,  but  rests  solely  on  the  author- 
ity of  the  early  writers  Eusebius  and  Josephus,  who, 
themselves  following  Chaldsean  historians,  or  tradi- 
tions extant  in  their  day,  state  that  the  offended  gods 
overthrew  the  tower  by  means  of  a  "  storm  of  wind."* 
It  is  no  matter  of  surprise  that  with  this  belief  of 
the  partial  demolition,  at  least,  of  the  Tower  through 
some  violent  interference  by  Heaven,  Benjamin  of 
Tudela,  whose  wanderings  led  him  to  the  Babylonian 
plains  about  A.D.  1170,  should,  with  that  cloven 
mass  of  brick-work  which  surmounts  the  ruins  before 
him,  and  with  those  huge,  plutonic,  fire-blasted  frag- 
ments, of  which  mention  has  been  made,  piled  at  his 
feet,  and,  moreover,  assured  that  he  was  at  least  close 
by  the  site  of  ancient  Babylon — it  is  no  wonder  that 
with  such  evidences  about  him  he  should  at  once 
have  leaped  to  the  conclusion  that  this  was  the  ver- 
itable Tower  of  Babel,  and  here  the  proof  of  the 
miraculous  overthrow  of  the  Tower  by  fire — for,  to  ac- 
count for  the  blasted  appearance  of  the  ruins,  he  at- 

*  Kitto's  "  Cyclopaedia  of  Biblical  Literature." 


THE   RUINS   OF  BABYLON.  031 

tends  the  storm  of  wind  ^vith  the  lightnings  of  heav- 
en."* It  is  from  these  sources  that  comes  the  some- 
what popular  impression  that  the  Tower  was  actually 
overthrown,  and  that  lightning  was  one  of  the  agents 
employed  by  Heaven  in  effecting  the  purpose. 

Respecting  the  vitrified,  fire-blasted  masses  of  ma- 
sonry that  crown  the  Birs,  it  has  been  ascertained 
that  they  are  fragments  of  the  sixth  stage,  which  was 
purposely  subjected  to  the  action  of  fire — probably 
by  being  covered  with  some  combustible  substance, 
which  in  burning  produced  a  sufliciently  intense 
heat  to  convert  it  into  a  vitrified  mass  —  the  ob- 
ject being  to  give  the  terrace  a  cerulean  hue,  the 
conventional  tint  assigned  to  Mercury,  which  planet 
the  stage  represented. 

The  writers  above  referred  to,  Eusebius  and  Jo- 
sephus,  are  also  responsible  for  another  somewhat 
popular  misconception  respecting  the  Babel  Tower: 
viz.,  that  the  object  of  the  builders  was  to  provide  a 
retreat  for  themselves  in  case  of  the  recurrence  of 
the  catastrophe  that  had  so  recently  swept  away  the 
greater  portion  of  the  human  family.  The  Biblical 
account,  however,  assigns  no  such  motive  to  those 
engaged  in  the  work.  The  reason  that  the  sacred 
writer  represents  the  builders  themselves  as  giving 
— the  making  of  a  name  lest  they  should  be  scattered 

*  Ker  Porter  reasons  in  exactly  the  same  way.  Vide  "Travels," 
vol.  ii.,  p.  319. 


232  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

— is  exactly  sucli  an  ambition  as  we  find,  all  tlirougli 
tlie  history  of  those  early  nations,  prompting  to  the 
construction  of  imposing  edifices,  and  leading  to  the 
centralization,  at  the  city  of  the  royal  residences,  of 
all  of  the  most  magnificent  monuments  that  the  toil 
of  an  entire  nation  might  create.  •  Such  a  centraliza- 
tion as  that  proposed  by  the  builders  of  the  Tower 
would,  doubtless,  have  soon  given  them  influence 
and  a  name ;  but  as  this  procedure  would  have  con- 
travened the  divine  purpose,  that  had  in  view  the 
repeopling  of  the  countries  desolated  by  the  Flood, 
we  see  the  ambitious  design  thwarted  by  a  natural 
but  powerful  disorganizing  agency  which  had  not 
been  taken  into  their  calculations,  and  the  people 
that  might  otherwise  have  been  entirely  given  to 
the  work  of  conquest,  and  devoted  to  the  object  of 
forming  a  powerful  centralized  community,  spread- 
ing rapidly  over  the  earth,  and  at  different  centres 
creating  states  so  balanced  in  strength  as  to  best 
subserve  by  their  natural  inter-relations  the  welfare 
of  the  race,  and  most  certainly  insure  the  develop- 
ment and  advance  of  history. 

The  means  by  which  the  dispersion  of  mankind 
was  effected — viz.,  the  confusion  of  tongues — is  so 
connected  in  the  sacred  narrative,  and  in  the  minds 
of  its  readers,  with  the  Tower  of  Babel,  that  a  word 
here  respecting  that  circumstance  can  not  be  out  of 
place.     The  thought  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  the 


THE  RUINS   OF  BxVBYLON.  233 

builders  was,  as  we  have  seen,  centralization ;  the 
outcome  was  dispersion.  It  has  been  quite  generally 
believed  that  this  result  was  effected  by  a  sudden 
and  miraculous  confusion  or  divergence  wrought  in 
the  language  of  those  engaged  in  the  enterprise. 
This  view  rests  entirely  upon  the  form  of  speech 
employed  in  the  Biblical  narrative.  But  that  we 
have  here  again  failed  to  aj^preciate  and  rightly  in- 
terpret the  vivid,  highly  metaphorical  language  of 
the  East  admits  of  no  doubt.  It  may  be  asked.  Why 
need  there  be  any  anxiety  to  eliminate  the  miracu- 
lous element  from  the  occurrence?  The  following 
protest  from  a  fugitive  article  relative  to  this  subject, 
recently  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  E.  P.  Powell,  ex- 
actly expresses  the  ground  of  our  anxiety:  "Is  not 
such  teaching  leading  the  young  mind  to  look  for 
God  in  strange,  exceptional  occurrences,  rather  than 
in  the  life  and  movements  of  every  day  ?  Do  we  not 
prevent  a  hearty,  every-day  piety  and  trust  ?  Again, 
is  there  any  proof  of  this  interpretation  1  Are  there 
ten  men  of  fair  claims  to  a  position  in  the  scientific 
world  who  do  not  laugh  at  the  idea  ?  But  scientists 
are  nearly  all  skeptics,  atheists,  etc.  Are  they  ?  And 
why,  unless  it  be  that  our  nonsense  is  mistaken  by 
them  for  our  theology,  and  the  absurd  clinging  to 
back-age  notions  has  severed  them  from  sympathy 
with  us  ?" 

These  few  sentences  give,  in  a  condensed  form,  the 


234  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

reasons  that  lead  so  many  of  our  most  earnest  Biblical 
scholars  to  protest  so  strongly  against  the  misinter- 
pretation of  the  language  of  the  Bible  by  those  who 
persist  in  understanding  as  literal  statements  lan- 
guage that  bears  unmistakably  upon  its  face  the  im- 
petuous, dramatic  expression  of  Oriental  metaphor. 
The  purging  the  Scriptures  of  this  gratuitous  myth- 
ical element,  which  act  is  regarded  with  such  pious 
horror  or  timid  apprehension  by  these  verbalistie 
translators,  is  the  very  thing  which  is  to  redeem  the 
sacred  writings  from  that  obloquy  which,  as  inti- 
mated by  the  above-quoted  writer,  has  fallen  upon 
them  in  the  estimation  of  scientists.  We  will  not, 
of  course,  be  understood  as  suggesting  as  a  welcome 
consummation  the  complete  elimination  of  the  mirac- 
ulous from  the  narratives  of  the  Scriptures.  We  only 
protest  against  such  gross  misinterpretations  as  un- 
wisely and  gratuitously  subject  them  to  the  liability 
of  having  ascribed  to  them  an  improbable  or  myth- 
ological character.  Buddhism,  Brahminism,  and  Is- 
lamisni  are  inherently  weak,  because  permeated  with 
mythical  and  mythological  elements ;  which,  not 
being  susceptible  of  explanation  upon  any  theory 
of  rational,  metaphorical  interpretation,  must  inevi- 
tably crumble  when  subjected  to  the  influences  of 
modern  thought,  and  drag  down  into  ruins  the  en- 
tire structures  into  which  they  are  inwrought.  By 
our  own  misconceptions,  misinterpretations,  and  mis- 


THE   RUINS   OF  BABYLON.  235 

appreciations,  our  own  sacred  writings  have  been 
rendered  liable  to  contempt  and  assault — as  they 
have  often  been  contemned  and  assaulted — by  un- 
friendly criticism.  The  miraculous  has  its  place, 
and  an  all-important  one,  in  the  Scriptural  scheme, 
and  in  the  system  of  divine  government;  but  when 
the  end  in  view  is  possible  of  attainment  by  nat- 
ural means — specially  and  wonderfully  directed,  if 
you  will  —  this  element  is  never  called  into  requi- 
sition. The  on-goings  of  the  world  of  nature  have 
been  but  seldom  broken  in  upon  by  the  operations 
of  a  higher  law.  When  the  disturbed  and  conflicting 
forces  of  nature — we  use  an  illustration  suggested, 
we  think,  by  Dr.  Bushnell — are  commanded,  "  Peace, 
be  still,"  and  suddenly  they  are  all  hushed  to  hear 
the  voice  of  their  Master — when  thus  they  are  called 
to  quick  and  miraculous  obedience,  the  end  in  view 
is  one  which  could  find  most  effective  attainment 
only  in  such  wonderful  and  manifest  acknowledg- 
ment of  subjection.  But  should  it  lessen  our  con- 
ceptions of  the  omnipotence  of  God,  because  we  dis- 
cover that  his  high  purposes  are  achieved  more 
frequently  than  we  were  wont  to  think  by  the  em- 
ployment of  natural  means  ?  Is  our  reverence  for 
the  Great  Creator  less,  after  learning  that  our  world, 
instead  of  being  called  into  existence  full-grown,  with 
its  mountains  capped  with  snow,  and  its  rivers  seek- 
ing the  seas,  was  evolved  by  slow  geological  processes 


236  EEMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

througli  long  eons  ?  Shall  we  give  less  glory  to  the 
God  of  Israel,  because,  when  "  the  Assyrians  came 
down  like  a  wolf  on  the  fold,"  instead  of  discovering 
the  angel  of  the  Lord  actually  going,  sword  in  hand, 
through  the  camp  of  the  enemies  of  Jerusalem,  and 
smiting  a  hundred  and  fourscore  and  five  thousand,"^ 
we  detect  only  the  pestilential  miasma  of  the  Egyp- 
tian marshes,  or  the  noxious,  hot  breath  of  the  desert  ?f 
Was  the  deliverance  of  Israel  less  wonderful,  if  thus 
delivered?  Was  it  less  divine?  Not  if  there  be  a 
Providence,  as  well  as  a  miracle-working  God.  Again : 
Is  that  a  wisely  reverential  literalism  which  so  repeats 
the  language  of  the  narrative  respecting  the  plague 
wrought  upon  the  waters  of  Egypt  for  the  deliverance 
of  Israel  as  constantly  to  invite  the  charge,  so  impa- 
tiently urged, of  intrinsic  improbability?  To  so  inter- 
pret, or  misinterpret,  the  sacred  writer,  as  to  charge 
him  with  representing  the  Nile  as  actually  turning  to 
the  element  of  blood,  is  not  a  less  absurd  literalism 
than  that  which  contorts  the  words  of  Scripture  into 
support  of  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation.  J 

*  Isa.  xxxvii.  36. 

t  Hclirew  scholars  inform  us  that  the  expression  "  Angel  of  Jehovah" 
is  a  Hebraism,  meaning  often  any  physical  cause  of  destruction,  as  the 
plague,  a  storm,  or  a  pestilential  fever.  Vaux  supposes  the  agent  which 
destroyed  the  Assyrian  army  to  be  a  pestilential  "blast"  from  the  des- 
ert. Dr.  Smith  says  :  "  The  secondary  agency  is  usually  sui)posed  to  be 
a  pestilence,  caused  (if  the  event  occurred  at  or  near  Pelusiuni)  by  the 
malaria  of  the  delta  marshes." — "Ancient  History  of  the  p]ast,"  p.  395. 

J  See  Speaker's  "  Comuientary  upon  the  Plagues  of  Egypt."  As 
some  of  our  readers  may  not  have  this  work  at  hand,  we  will  quote 


THE  RUINS   OF  BABYLON.  237 

Now  we  would  not  characterize  any  received  in- 
terpretation of  the  Babel  narrative  as  wholly  non- 
sensical and  irrational;  yet  we  do  state  it  as  our 
conviction  that  that  construction  which  implies  a 
sudden  and  miraculous  change  in  the  language  of 
the  builders  of  the  Tower  is  a  most  grievous  depart- 
ure from  the  truth.  The  primal  characteristic  of  lan- 
guage is  its  susceptibility  of  differentiation.  This 
is  one  of  its  natural  and  inherent  features,  and  must 
consequently  have  belonged  to  it  when  first  it  be- 
came man's  endowment ;  and  thus  the  post-diluvians, 
as  soon  as  their  communities  became  in  anywise  ex- 
tended, must  have  experienced  the  inconvenience  of 
springing  dialects,  more  or  less  divergent  from  one 
another.  And  how  great  a  change  might  have  taken 
place  in  a  comparatively  limited  time  may  be  learn- 

the  comments  on  Exodus  vii.  17:  "In  accordance  with  tlie  general 
character  of  the  narrative,  it  might  be  expected  that  this  miracle  would 
bear  a  certain  resemblance  to  natural  phenomena,  and  therefore  be  one 
which  Pharaoh  might  see  with  amazement  and  dismay,  yet  without 
complete  conviction.  It  is  well  known  that  before  the  rise  the  water 
of  the  Nile  is  green  and  unfit  to  drink.  About  the  25th  of  June  it  be- 
comes clear,  and  then  yellow,  and  gradually  reddish,  like  ochre ;  this 
effect  has  been  attributed  to  the  red  earth  brought  down  from  Sennaar, 
but  Ehrenberg  proves  that  it  is  owing  to  the  presence  of  microscopic 
cryptogams  and  infusoria.  The  depth  of  the  color  varies  in  different 
years;  when  it  is  very  deep,  the  water  has  an  offensive  smell.  Late 
travelers  say  that  at  such  seasons  the  broad,  turbid  tide  has  a  striking 
resemblance  to  a  river  of  blood.  The  supernatural  character  of  the 
visitation  was  attested  by  the  suddenness  of  the  change,  by  its  immedi- 
ate connection  with  the  words  and  acts  of  Moses,  and  by  its  effects.  It 
killed  the  fishes,  and  made  the  water  unfit  for  use,  neither  of  which 
results  follows  the  annual  discoloration." 


238  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

ed  from  observation  of  the  rapid  differentiation  of 
Asiatic  languages  witliin  the  later  periods  of  historic 
times.     It  is  perfectly  surprising  to  observe  within 
what  circumscribed   districts   in  the  East  different 
dialects  will  spring  up.     Owing  to  the  lack  of  inter- 
communication, and  the  absence,  as  to  the  masses,  of 
a  common  literature,  the  language  of  the  inhabitants 
of  any  given  city  or  province  is,  to  a  certain  degree, 
unintelligible  to  the  inhabitants  of  neighboring  cities 
or  provinces.     Even  in  the  compact  Chinese  nation, 
the  almost  infinite  number  of  tongues  is  the  most 
serious   embarrassment  to  extended   missionary  en- 
terprise.    Upon  the  Peninsula   of  India  there   are 
spoken   to-day   twenty-three   languages,  as    distinct 
from  one  another  as  the  Latin  is  from  the  Greek,  and 
the  dialects  are  numbered  by  hundreds.     The  Koran 
has  done  much  toward  preserving  a  uniform  learned 
language  among  the  nations  of  Western  Asia ;  but 
the  tongue  of  the  common  people  is  broken  up  into 
an  immense  number  of  dialects.     The  vocabulary  of 
Arabic  words  and  phrases  with  which  we  started  out 
from  Beyrout  became  largely  obsolete  before  we  had 
traveled  a  week  toward  the  North.     Dr.  Nutting,  of 
Aleppo,  the  pastor  of  the  native  church  in  that  city, 
told  us  that  he  could  scarcely  make  himself  intelligi- 
ble to  a  Damascene  audience.     It  is  in  the  light  of 
such  facts  as  these  that  we  should  read  the  Biblical 
story.     Not  a  missionary  in  Turkey  with  whom  we 


THE  RUINS   OF   BABYLON.  239 

conversed  upon  this  subject  of  tbe  Confusion  of 
Tongues,  but  expressed  great  impatience  of  tlie  gross- 
ly antliropomor23liic  character  of  the  popular  inter- 
pretation of  the  narrative.  Why  thus  render  the 
whole  account  suspiciously  mythic  ?  The  case  makes 
no  demand  whatever  for  the  puerile,  absurd,  Jupiter- 
Olympian  miracle  conjured  up  by  a  persistently 
stupid  and  obtuse  literalism. 

We  are  aware  that  Niebuhr  lent  his  high  authority 
in  support  of  the  views  of  a  sudden  and  miraculous 
divulgence  of  the  primal  tongue  of  mankind;  for 
thus  only  could  he  account  for  the  seeming  lack  of 
affinity  between  the  three  great  groups  of  languages. 
But  since  he  committed  himself  to  that  opinion,  phil- 
ological study  has  made  such  advances  as  to  force  us 
to  the  conviction  that,  as  the  multitude  of  languages 
embraced  by  any  one  of  the  great  families  of  human 
speech  have  demonstrably  arisen  through  the  opera- 
tion of  natural  causes  that  have  gradually  produced 
these  divergences,  so  have  the  great  families  them- 
selves a  similar  history,  being  not  the  product  of  an 
arbitrary  intervention  of  divine  power,  but  the  nat- 
ural outgrowth  or  resultant  of  causes  coeval  with 
the  creation  of  the  race. 

But  we  are  being  led  away  from  the  main  inquiry 
— Are  the  remains  of  the  Tower  of  Babel  to  be  found 
in  the  mass  of  the  Birs  Nimrud  ?  The  mound  certain- 
ly marks  the  site  of  a  grand  tower-temple,  that  was 

R 


240  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

erected  about  one  thousand  years  after  the  Flood, 
the  principal  features  of  which  edifice  can  be  traced 
in  the  present  ruin.  But  in  the  erection  of  that  vast 
tower-temple  may  not  advantage  have  been  taken  of 
an  existing  structure  or  mound  ?  and,  if  so,  might  we 
not  reasonably  infer  that  that  ruin  was  the  remains 
of  the  Babel  structure  ?  Now,  just  at  this  point,  to 
aid  in  the  solution  of  these  questions,  comes  the  dis- 
covery, beneath  the  ruins  of  the  Birs  Nimrud,  of  two 
inscribed  c}''nders,  which  expressly  state  that  the 
temple  erected  by  Nebuchadnezzar  was  constructed 
upon  a  previously  existing  ruin ;  that  the  tower,  the 
principal  feature  of  the  temple,  was,  in  truth,  but  the 
restoration  of  a  structure  that  had  suffered  consider- 
able deterioration  under  the  wear  of  time. 

Before  giving  this  inscription,  we  should  at  least 
refer  to  the  circumstances  under  which  the  cylinders 
that  bear  these  celebrated  records,  which  are  now  in 
the  British  Museum,  were  discovered.  The  Babylo- 
nian temples  were  always  constructed  upon  the  same 
general  plan  as  the  one  at  Borsippa ;  only  in  the  case 
of  the  inferior  structures  the  number  of  stages  was 
reduced  to  two  or  three  terraces.  In  the  lower  por- 
tion of  the  angle  of  these  stages  commemorative 
cylinders  were  invariably  deposited.  These  were 
simply  finely  finished,  inscribed  tubes  of  baked  clay, 
varying  in  length  from  one  foot  to  three  feet.  Pre- 
vious to  the  search  made  at  the  Birs  Nimrud  for  such 


THE   RUINS   OF  BABYLON.  241 

records,  there  had  been  discovered  a  considerable 
number  of  these  relics  at  Ninev^eh :  the  famous  one 
of  Tiglath  Pileser  I.  (B.C.  1120),  at  Kileh  Sherghat, 
upon  the  Tigris,  to  which  reference  has  already  been 
made ;  and  also  the  interesting  cylinders  of  Naboni- 
dus,  from  the  great  stage  at  Mugheir,  which,  as  re- 
marked in  a  previous  chapter,  has  been  unmistakably 
identified  as  the  site  of  the  ancient  Ur  of  the  Chal- 
dees.  So  when  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson  commenced  his 
excavations  at  the  Birs,  he  set  his  workmen  to  the 
task  of  laying  bare  the  corners  of  one  of  the  central 
stages,  which  he  rightly  inferred  would  be  preserved 
by  the  accumulated  dehris  resulting  from  the  crum- 
bling of  the  uppermost  platforms.  Having  exposed 
one  of  the  angles,  he  directed  his  workmen  to  take 
down  the  corner.  His  Arabs  could  see  no  sense  in 
digging  into  a  solid  wall,  and  worked  witb  but  little 
spirit.  Slowly,  one  after  another,  the  bricks  are  re- 
moved, till  the  lower  part  of  the  stage  is  reached ; 
when  lo !  a  "  treasure-hole  "  is  revealed,  and  the  aston- 
ished Arabs  lift  out  a  perfect  cylinder,  curiously  let- 
tered, which  the  workmen  of  Nebuchadnezzar  hid 
away  so  carefully  more  than  a  score  of  centuries  ago. 
Rawlinson,  excited  with  joy,  seizes  the  trophy  to  see 
what  mysteries  it  may  have  to  reveal.  In  his  glow- 
ing account  of  the  discovery,  he  says :  "  I  sat  down 
for  a  few  moments  on  the  ruins  of  the  wall  to  run 
over  the  inscription  on  the  cylinder,  devouring  its 


242  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

contents  witla  that  deep  deliglit  which  antiquarians 
only  know — such,  I  presume,  as  German  scholars 
have  sometimes  felt  when  a  Palimpsest  yields  up  its 
treasures,  and  the  historic  doubts  of  ages  are  resolved 
in  each  succeeding  line."* 

The  inscription  has  been  translated  by  several  cu- 
neiform scholars,  each  proceeding  independent  of  the 
labors  of  the  others ;  the  correctness  of  the  several 
versions  is  evidenced  by  the  substantial  agreement 
of  the  diiferent  renderings.  The  following  is  the 
version  given  by  Talbot.  Although  but  a  portion 
of  the  inscription  refers  to  the  "  Tower  of  Borsippa," 
still  we  will  give  it  entire,  that  our  readers  may  see 
the  usual  form  of  the  royal  records : 

"  Nebuchaduezzar,  king  of  Babylon,  the  glorious  Sovereign,  closely 
united  to  the  heart  of  Marduk,  the  great  high-priest,  the  worshiper 
of  Nebo,  the  glorious  Ruler,  whose  soul  has  urged  him  to  declaim  the 
glories  of  the  Supreme  God :  the  blameless  priest ;  the  restorer  of  the 
Temples  and  the  Sacred  Treasuries ;  the  eldest  son  of  Nabopolassar, 
king  of  Babylon — I  am  he. 

"The  favor  of  Marduk,  the  Great  King,  gave  unto  me  a  royal  birth, 
and  to  me  he  has  intrusted  the  completion  of  his  sacred  edifices.  And 
Nebo,  the  judge  of  the  races  of  heaven  and  earth  and  the  chosen  dwell- 
ing-place of  Marduk,  king  of  the  race  of  the  Gods,  and  also  the  temple 
of  Kua,  the  shrine  of  his  treasury,  I  rebuilt  anew.  With  gold  and  sil- 
ver and  precious  stones,  incrustcd  upon  planks  of  meshukan  and  cedar- 
wood,  I  completed  its  adornments. 

"  The  Temple  of  the  Si^here,  which  is  the  Tower  of  Babylon,  I  rebuilt 
and  finished,  and  with  slabs  of  the  precious  zamat-stone  I  crowned  its 

*  "  Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society,"  vol.  xviii.,  art.  i.,  which  see  for 
Rawlinson's  narrative  of  his  excavations  at  the  Bii's  Nimrud. 


THE  RUINS   OF  BABYLON.  243 

summit.  A7id  hy  Msfavor^  also,  I  rebuilt  the  Temple  of  the  Seven  Spheres, 
icMch  is  the  Tower  of  Borsippa,  which  a  former  Mng  had  hiilt,  and  Tmd 
raised  it  to  the  height  of  forty-two  ciibits,  hut  had  not  completed  its  croion  or 
summit.  From  extreme  old  age  it  had  crumbled  down.  The  water-courses 
lohich  once  drained  it  had  been  entirely  neglected.  From  their  own  weight 
its  h'ieJcs  had  fallen  down;  the  finer  slabs  tchich  cased  the  briclc-worlc  %oere 
all  split  and  rent,  and  the  hricTcs  which  had  formed  its  mound  lay  scattered 
in  ruins. 

"  Then  the  Great  Lord  MarduTc  moved  my  heart  to  complete  this  temple; 
for  its  site  w  foundation  had  not  been  disturbed,  and  its  timibel,  or  sacred 
foundation-stone,  had  not  been  destroyed. 

'■'■In  the  month  Shalmi,  on  afestivalrday,  I  replaced  and  reneiced  both  the 
bricks  of  its  mound  and  the  finer  slabs  of  its .  .  .  Then  I  firmly  fixed  up  its 
miJcitta,  and  I  placed  upon  its  new  crown  the  sculptured  inscriptions  of  my 
name.  For  its  summit  and  its  upper  story  Imade  .  .  .  lihe  the  old  ones.  I 
rebuilt  entirely  this  upper  portion,  and  I  made  its  crown  or  summit  as  it 
had  been  planned  informer  days. 

"  Then  do  thou,  O  Nebo,  divine  son  of  the  supreme  deity,  thou  most 
exalted  tanJcallam,  and  Siltuth  beloved  by  Marduk,  bless  abundantly 
the  work  which  I  have  done  in  these  edifices !  and  grant  unto  me 
plenty  of  years,  an  illustrious  progeny,  a  firm  thi'one,  and  a  prolonged 
life ;  a  triumjih  over  foreign  nations,  and  a  great  victory  over  my  ene- 
mies. Grant  these  things  to  me  abundantly,  and  even  to  ovei-flowing. 
.  .  .  And  may  that  name  in  which  I  put  my  trust — Nebuchadnezzar — 
and  also  my  title  of  King  obedient  to  the  Gods,  be  ever  protected  by 
thy  holy  sceptre  !"* 

The  significance  of  tlie  italicized  paragraphs  refer- 
ring to  the  Temple  of  the  Seven  Spheres,  in  relation 
to  the  identification  of  the  site  of  the  ancient  Tow- 
er of  Babel,  is  obvious.  '  There  is,  at  least,  a  high 
probability  that  the  uncompleted  tower,  crumbled 
from  "  extreme  old  age,"  which  Nebuchadnezzar  was 

*  "  Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society,"  vol.  xviii.,  art.  ii. 


244  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

"  moved  to  complete,"  was  really  tlie  remains  of  that 
ancient  structure.  M.  Oppert,  the  most  eminent  au- 
thority upon  Babylonian  topography  among  French 
antiquarians,  expresses  his  belief  in  the  reliableness 
of  the  identification,  by  prominently  designating  the 
record  of  the  cylinders  as  "  L'inscription  de  Borsippa 
ou  de  la  tour  de  Babel."* 

The  excavations  that  have  been  carried  on  at  the 
Birs  also  corroborate  the  inscription,  and  afford  proof 
of  the  fact  that  we  have  here  a  ruin  upon  a  ruin. 
Upon  driving  his  tunnels  into  the  mass  near  the  base 
of  the  mound,  Eawlinson  discovered  that  the  interior 
portion  was  composed  of  crude,  or  sun-dried  bricks, 
the  layers  of  which  varied  about  12°  from  the  outer 
courses  in  the  direction  of  their  lines.  That  the  inner 
mass  was  of  a  different  and  greater  age  than  the  out- 
er and  upper  portions  of  the  mound  was  plainly  indi- 
cated. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  change  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  layers  of  brick  observed  in  the  earlier  and 
later  structure  might,  by  being  considered  as  the 
measure  of  astronomical  variations,  give  data  for  de- 
termining the  exact  age  of  the  first  edifice.  But  the 
amount  of  change  is  too  great  to  give  sanction  to  the 
supposition  of  its  astronomical  origin.  But  that  a 
portion  of  the  change  in  the  direction  of  the  lines  may 
have  had  such  a  course  is  not  altogether  improbable ; 
*  "  Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society,"  vol.  xviii.,  art.  ii. 


THE  RUINS   OF  BABYLON.  245 

for  the  stages  built  by  Nebuchadnezzar  vary  five  or 
six  degrees  from  an  exact  northeast  and  southwest, 
or  northwest  and  southeast  direction  (it  will  be  re- 
called that  their  angles  were  intended  to  front  the 
cardinal  points),  and  this  discrepancy  is  generally 
admitted  to  be  due  to  astronomical  variations.  M. 
Fresnel,  upon  the  ground  stated  in  the  annexed  note,* 
believes  it  assignable  to  the  magnetic  variation  of  the 
needle.  It  is  not  absolutely  incredible  that  those 
crossing  lines  within  the  Birs  may  yet  make  some 
startling  revelations  respecting  the  relative  ages  of 
the  difi'erent  ruins  that  make  up  the  mound,  and  the 
absolute  age  of  the  earlier  work.  Perhaps  these  ru- 
ins upon  the  Babylonian  plains  will  some  day  be 
found  the  allies  of  the  Egyptian  monuments  in  push- 
ing back  into  a  m3^sterious  antiquity  the  age  of  man 
and  of  civilization. 

There  is  still  another  argument  which,  in  our  mind, 
must  strengthen  the  theory  of  the  identification  of 
the  Birs  Nimrud  with  the  Babel  tower  in  the  minds 
of  those  who,  relying  upon  the  inscriptions,  regard 
this  mound  as  marking  the  site  of  Borsippa,  a  town 

*  "  Je  trouve  effectivement,  clans  mes  notes,  pour  la  direction  cl'un 
aSroduc  du  Birs,  pris  au  hasard ;  nord-oiiest  cinq  ou  six  degres  (de  I'aiguille 
aimant^e  de  ma  boussole).  Or  la  declinaison  gtant  ici  occidentale 
(comme  chez  vous),  et  justiment  de  six  degres,  nous  pouvons  en  conclure 
legitimement  que  Torientation  exacte  des  quatre  faces  de  la  tour  de 
Belus  etait  nord-ouest  et  sud-est,  dans  un  sens,  et  nord-est  et  sud-ouest, 
dans  Tautre,  ou,  ce  qui  revient  au  meme,  que  ses  quatre  angles  regaj"- 
daient  les  quatre  cardinaux." — "  Journal  Asiatic,"  Juillet,  1853,  p.  59. 


246  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

quite  distinct,  indeed  distant  several  miles  from 
Babylon.  While  speaking  of  the  controversy  re- 
specting the  identification  of  the  Birs  with  the  Tem- 
ple of  Belus,  we  stated  that  many  rest  in  the  conclu- 
sion that  this  ruin  does  represent  that  edifice,  and 
was  included  within  the  walls  of  Babylon.  The  sup- 
porters of  this  opinion  urge,  as  an  argument  in  favor 
of  their  views,  that  it  is  incredible  to  suppose  that  a 
town  of  second  importance  in  the  kingdom,  like  Bor- 
sippa,  should  contain  a  structure  of  such  magnitude 
as  this  one  now  composing  the  heap  of  the  Birs. 
Now  somewhat  of  this  improbability  will  be  removed, 
if  we  will  bear  in  mind  the  fact  that  the  dimensions 
of  the  structure  must  have  been  largely  determined 
by  the  proportions  of  an  existing  ruin.  And  thus, 
perhaps,  we  may  find  an  explanation  of  the  excep- 
tional existence  of  an  edifice  of  such  magnificent  pro- 
portions without  the  walls  of  the  capital  city ;  which, 
in  those  early  times,  generally  embraced  within  its 
own  limits  all  architectural  works  of  a  nature  calcu- 
lated to  excite  wonder  and  admiration. 

While  we  have  been  enoao-ed  in  this  somewhat 
lengthy  search,  amid  many  confused  hea23S,  for  the 
palaces,  temples,  and  "  hanging  gardens"  of  Babylon, 
even  going  beyond  the  limits  of  the  ancient  city  to 
find  the  Temple  of  Nebo  and  the  probable  remains 
of  the  Tower  of  Babel — wliile  conducting  these  ex- 
aminations, this  question  has  probably  suggested  it- 


THE   RUINS   OF   BABYLON.  247 

self  to  our  readers,  Where  are  the  broad  walls  of 
Babylon  ?  Although  we  must  have  crossed  the  line 
of  the  ancient  walls  in  entering  the  city  from  the 
north,  and  passed  and  repassed  it  in  visiting  the  Birs 
Nimrud,  we  saw  not  the  trace  of  a  mound  lying  on 
the  desert  that  we  might  presume  was  a  fragment  of 
those  mighty  ramparts.  Nor  has  the  most  careful 
search  discovered  a  sino;le  trace  of  them.  "The 
broad  walls  of  Babylon  shall  be  utterly  broken" 
were  the  words  of  pro^^hecy,  and  they  have  found  a 
literal  fulfillment. 

The  entire  disappearance  of  the  walls  of  Babylon 
is  the  more  remarkable  when  we  recall  their  vast  cir- 
cuit and  really  astonishing  thickness  and  height.  As 
to  the  area  they  inclosed,  the  estimates  of  ancient  au- 
thors vary.  Herodotus  makes  the  walls  inclose  a 
square  of  just  fourteen  miles.  Ctesias,  however,  re- 
duces the  enceinte  to  a  square  of  exactly  ten  miles, 
and  this  is  the  smallest  estimate  of  any  authority. 
Respecting  the  thickness  and  height  of  the  walls,  the 
estimates  are  more  discre2:»ant.  The  figures  of  Herod- 
otus are  here  again  the  largest,  that  author  making 
the  width  of  the  walls  eighty-five  feet,  and  their 
height  three  hundred  and  twenty-five;  Strabo  gives 
the  more  moderate  measurements  of  thirty-two  feet 
for  the  thickness,  and  seventy-three  for  the  height. 
Taking  even  the  lowest  estimates  for  the  actual  di- 
mensions of  the  walls,  it  seems  almost  impossible  that 


248  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

every  trace  of  such  enormous  ramj)arts  should  be  en- 
tirely obliterated.  But  both  the  violence  of  man  and 
the  lona:  action  of  the  elements  combined  to  break 
them  down.  Cyrus  dismantled  the  walls ;  and  when 
the  city  was  retaken  by  Darius,  after  its  revolt  from 
the  Persian  authority,  that  conqueror  reduced  their 
height,  in  order  that  the  city  might  not  possess  such 
powers  of  resistance  a  second  time  to  his  army ;  and 
then  again  Xerxes,  Demetrius  Poliorcetes,  and  Alexan- 
der are  all  said  to  have  successively  dismantled  and 
broken  down  the  reduced  ramparts.  If  these  con- 
querors did  not  throw  them  down  entirely,  the  ele- 
ments would  easily  have  completed  the  work ;  for  the 
walls  were  only  earthen  ramparts,  and  would  readily 
drop  back  in  the  deep  moat  from  which  the  material 
had  been  taken. 

We  passed  our  last  night  upon  the  site  of  Eaby- 
lon  in  camp,  beneath  a  beautiful  date-grove.  We  al- 
lude to  this  circumstance  because  the  fact  of  their  be- 
ing palm-groves,  gardens,  Arab  villages,  and  encamp- 
ments within  the  limits  of  the  ancient  city  has  been 
triumphantly  pushed  forward  by  those  who  have  de- 
sired to  cast  a  reflection  upon  the  truthfulness  of 
prophecy,  and  to  others  has  been  the  occasion  of  hon- 
est remark,  implying  an  unexj^lained  discrepancy  be- 
tween prophecy  and  fact. 

The  camp  alluded  to  above  was  Colonel  Herbert's, 
the  English  Resident  at  Bagdad,  who,  with  a  number 


THE  RUINS   OP  BABYLON.  049 

of  friends  and  a  large  train  of  attendants,  had  come 
to  the  gardens  of  Hillah  for  a  short  respite  from 
duty.  The  Colonel  very  conrteously  made  us  the 
guests  of  his  tent.  Almost  his  first  words,  after  a 
mutual  interchange  of  greetings,  were :  "  I  fail  to  dis- 
cover the  desolation  of  desolations  here.  Why,  this 
morning  'I  sketched  a  view  from  this  spot,  looking 
down  the  river,  and  it  is  one  of  the  richest  pictures  I 
ever  saw ;  and  here  I  am  encamped  upon  the  old  site 
in  a  beautiful  grove  !" 

It  is  true  that  the  Euphrates  leads  a  beautiful  belt 
of  verdure  across  the  ancient  site.  Both  above  and 
below  the  village  of  Hillah — which  is  an  Arab  town 
of  from  ten  to  twelve  thousand  inhabitants,  situated 
upon  the  river  about  five  miles  below  the  group  of 
ruins  which  have  herein  been  designated  as  the 
''  Royal  Quarter "  —  the  Euphrates  is  lined  with 
patches  of  cultivation,  or  date-groves,  known  as  "  the 
Gardens  of  Hillah."  The  vistas  of  th-e  palm-fringed 
river  are  indeed  beautiful :  such  as  we  have  de- 
scribed as  being  formed  by  the  Tigris  just  before  it 
enters  the  city  of  Bagdad.  They  serve  to  convey 
some  conception  of  what  must  have  been  the  beauty 
of  the  Babylonian  capital,  when  the  multitude  of 
canals,  which  intersected  the  entire  district,  created 
thousands  of  interlocking  bands  of  foliage,  which  con- 
cealed the  city  beneath  what  seemed  a  continuous 
forest  of  palms,  above  which  alone  rose  the  lofty 


250  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

Hanging  Gardens,  the  magnificent  residences  of  the 
kings,  and,  rivaling  all  in  wantonness  of  splendor,  the 
bright-hiied  and  burnished  stages  of  the  Temples  of 
Bel  and  Nebo.     Notwithstanding  the  general  deso- 
lation of  the  site,  we  were,  at  first,  somewhat  per- 
plexed upon  observing  the  beautiful  groves,  and  the 
Arab  villas-es  and  tents  beneath  the  trees;  for  we 
had  in  mind  the  words  of  prophecy :  "  No  man  shall 
dwell  there  " — "  The  Arabian  shall  not  pitch  his  tent 
there ;"  and  our  conversation  with  Colonel  Herbert 
tended  naturally  to  deepen  our  perplexity.     But  a 
little  incident  of  the  night  served  to  give  us  worthier 
conceptions  of  the  scope  and  meaning  of  prophetic 
imagery.     The  evening  had  scarcely  set  in  before  a 
storm  arose  in  the  distance,  and  came  up  rapidly  over 
the  desert,  heralding  its  advance  with  clouds  of  sand 
that  blackened  the  sky  from  horizon  to  horizon.     It 
was   dark  when  the   storm  burst  upon  our   camp. 
The  winds  blew  with  the  strength  of  a  tornado,  and 
threatened  to  carry  away  our  tent.     The  lightnings 
shivered  with  quick  succeeding  flashes  the  surround- 
ing blackness,  and  revealed,  in  lurid,  fitful  glare,  the 
vast,  shapeless  mass  of  the  Mujelibee  ruin ;  Avhile  the 
winds  bore  in   from   the   desert   the  mournful  cry 
of  the  jackal.     Amid  such    surroundings   we  were 
brought  into  sympathy  with  the  ancient  seer,  when 
"  the  grievous  vision  of  the  night  appeared  to  him, 
and  he  was  dismayed  at  the  seeing  of  it ;  while  his 


THE   RUINS   OF   BABYLON.  251 

heart  panted,  fearfuluess  affrighted  him,  and  the  night 
of  his  j^leasiire  was  turned  into  fear;"'^  and,  borne 
away  by  the  impulses  of  feeling,  he  gave  utterance 
to  the  burden  of  Babylon  with  that  startling  impet- 
uosity of  Oriental  passion  which  finds  fit  expression 
only  in  the  intensest  dramatic  language  of  poetic  im- 
agery. Yet  so  fearful,  so  tremendous  are  the  events 
which  are  to  become  historic,  that  are  revealed  to  the 
prophetic  ken  in  startling  vividness,  deep  in  the  gloom 
and  vagueness  and  mystery  of  the  oncoming  cent- 
uries, that  all  the  extravagances  of  Eastern  poetical 
hyperbole  are  scarcely  more  than  faithful  transcrip- 
tions of  the  events  thus  darkly  casting  their  shadows 
before. 

Still,  while  establishing  the  parallelism  of  proph- 
ecy and  history,  we  are  not  always  to  insist  that  ev- 
ery statement  of  the  highly  wrought,  poetical  fore- ' 
casting  shall  be  taken  literally.  Our  remarks  re- 
specting the  interpretation  of  the  Babel  narrative  will 
find  an  equally  apposite  apj)lication  here.  When 
the  prophet  declares  that  satyrs  (demons)  shall  dance 
amid  the  ruins  of  the  deserted  city,  we  are  not  ex- 
pected to  set  up  an  absurd  watch  for  Satanic  orgies. 

Instead  of  being  surprised  that  there  should  occur 
verbalistic  divergences  between  prophecy  and  Bab- 
ylonian history,  we  are  rather  astonished  at  the  won- 
derful coincidence  between  the  vivid  portrayal  of 

*  Isa.  xxi,  3-4. 


252  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

prophetic  vision  and  the  sober  statement  of  historic 
verities.  Standing  amid  the  heaps  of  Babylon,  sur- 
rounded by  the  vast  rain-furrowed  masses  of  her  de- 
cayed palaces  and  temples,  we  are  overwhelmed  with 
the  impressions  of  the  scene,  are  astonished  at  the 
completeness  of  her  mighty  overthrow,  and  can  find 
fullest  expression  for  our  excited  emotions  only  in  the 
language  of  prophecy :  How  is  the  hammer  of  the 
whole  earth  cut  asunder  and  broken !  how  is  Baby- 
lon become  a  desolation  among  the  nations  !*  How 
is  she  cast  up  in  heaps  and  utterly  destroyed  !f  How 
art  thou,  O  Babylon,  once  the  glory  of  kingdoms  and 
the  beauty  of  the  Chaldees'  excellency,  become  as 
when  God  overthrew  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  !J  How 
is  thine  end  come  and  the  meas.ure  of  thy  covetous- 
ness,  O  thou  that  dwelt  upon  many  waters,  abun- 
dant in  treasures  !  §  How  art  thou  become  an  aston- 
ishment and  a  hissing !  ||  how  is  every  one  that  goeth 
by  thee  astonished  !**  How  are  thy  broad  walls  ut- 
terly broken  Iff  How  hath  the  oppressor  ceased,  the 
golden  city  ceased  !JJ  How  art  thou  made  a  posses- 
sion for  the  bittern,  and  j^ools  of  water !  how  hast 
thou  been  swept  with  the  besom  of  destruction !  §§ 
How  is  the  great  sea  of  thy  inhabitants  dried  up.|||| 


*  Jer.  1.  23. 

II  Jer.  li.  37. 

11  Isa.  xiv.  4. 

t  Ibid.  1. 26. 

**  Ibid.  1. 13. 

§§  Ibid.  xiv.  23. 

X  Isa.  x.'ii.  19. 

tt  Ibid.  li.  58. 

nil  Jer.  1.38. 

§  Jer.  li.  13. 

THE   RUINS   OF  BABYLOX.  053 

How  is  Bel  confounded,  and  Merodacli  broken  into 
pieces !'''  Hoav  art  tliou  follen  from  Leaven,  O  Luci- 
fer, son  of  tlae  morniuo; !  Low  art  thou  cut  down  to 
the  earth  that  didst  weaken  the  nations ;  how  weak 
art  thou  become  that  madest  the  earth  to  tremble, 
that  didst  shake  kingdoms  !f 

Behold,  I  am  against  thee,  O  thou  most  proud, 
saith  the  Lord  God  of  hosts.J  Sit  thou  silent,  and 
get  thee  into  darkness,  for  thou  shalt  no  more  be 
called  The  lady  of  kingdoms.§  Come  down,  and  sit 
in  the  dust,  O  virgin  daughter  of  Babylon ;  sit  on 
the  ground,  for  there  is  no  more  a  throne  for  thee,  O 
daughter  of  the  Chaldseans.l 

*  Jer.  1.  2.  ■  I  Jer.  1.  31.  U  Isa.  xlvii.  1. 

t  Isa.  xiv.  12-16.  §  Isa.  xlvii.  5. 


254  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    LOWER   TIGEIS    AND    SHAT-EL- AEAB. 

Departure  from  the  City  of  the  Caliphs.— Mounds  of  Seleucia  and  Ctes- 
iphon. — Ruins  of  the  White  Palace  of  Khosru. — Sacked  by  the  Sara- 
cens.— Its  Treasures. — A  Royal  Persian  Carpet. — Madayn. — The  An- 
cient Nahrwan  Canal. — A  Paradise  Transformed  into  a  Desert. — 
River  Scenes. — Mountain  Views. — An  Unsuccessful  Experiment. — 
Through  the  Marshes. — A  Meandering  River. — Amphibious  Arabs. 
— Junction  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates. — Garden  of  Eden. — The 
Shat-el-Arab. — Tropical  Forest. — A  Beautiful  Water-path. — Amazo- 
nian Scene. — Picture  of  Arab  Life. — Pilgrims  from  Mecca. — Pilgrim- 
ages and  Railroads. — The  Steamship  Cashmere. — A  Wonderful  Coun- 
try.— In  the  Persian  Gulf. 

By  the  time  we  had  examined  all  that  was  calcu- 
lated to  invite  curiosity  in  the  City  of  the  Caliphs,  the 
advancing  heat  of  April  warned  us  to  hasten  ou.r  de- 
parture. So  on  the  tenth  we  took  passage  upon  the 
little  steamer  Digleli,  one  of  the  line  plying  be- 
tween Bagdad  and  Basrah.  It  was  scarcely  light  as 
we  stole  out  of  the  city  and  quietly  on  down  the 
river — down  through  the  gardens  and  groves  that 
usher  one  out  of  the  City  of  the  Faithful. 

Three  hours  from  Bagdad  we  are  steaming  be- 
tween the  mounds  of  Seleucia,  that  lie  on  the  right 
bank,  and  the  great  arch  of  Tak-Kesra,  which  on  the 
left  bank  marks  the  site  of  the  Parthian  Ctesiphon 


THE   LOWER  TIGRIS   AND   SHAT-EL-ARAB. 


^00 


aud  the  later  Persian  MadayD.  Long  lines  of  mounds, 
numerous  irregular  Leaps,  a  fragment  of  massive  wall 
and  arch — these  traces  of  ancient  buildings  lying  on 
a  low  plain,  half  overgrown  with  bushes  and  weeds, 
are  the  only  remains  of  the  three  great  capitals — 
Grecian,  Parthian,  and  Persian — that  once  crowded 
these  river -banks.  Now  they  are  silent  and  deso- 
late, save  that  yonder,  under  the  great  arch  of  the 
White  Palace  of  Khosru,  are  pitched  the  black  tents 
of  the  Bedawan,  and  all  over  the  site  are  roaming 
their  numerous  flocks.  It  is  easy  to  recall,  as  we 
steam  down  between  these  sites,  the  history  of  the 

famous  cities  that  once  occupied  them ;  but  it  is  not 

S 


256  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

SO  easy  to  make  one's  self  realize  that  these  are  the 
very  spots  of  which  history  is  telling.  We  are  re- 
quired to  recreate,  on  the  right  bank,  a  city  of  six 
hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  characterized  by  the 
laws  and  customs  of  a  Grecian  city ;  to  restore,  on 
the  opposite  bank,  a  Parthian  city  of  equal  mag- 
nitude, with  all  the  rude  splendor  of  a  barbarian 
court;  upon  the  ruins  of  this  to  construct  anothei' 
city  of  still  greater  proportions,  brilliant  with  all 
the  pomp  and  pageantry  of  the  luxurious  court  of 
Persia,  As  we  steam  slowly  along,  let  us  trace  a  lit- 
tle more  closely  the  history  of  these  three  forgotten 
capitals. 

Seleucia  was  the  first  to  rise.  It  was  built  large- 
ly out  of  the  bricks  of  Babylon,  by  that  royal  city- 
]>uilder,  Seleucus  Nicator,  Alexander's  successor  in 
Asia,  who  had  determined  to  transfer  the  authority 
of  the  Babylonian  plains  from  the  banks  of  the  Eu- 
phrates to  those  of  the  Tigris.  Thus  it  had  its  birth 
in  the  destruction  of  ancient  Babylon,  and  became 
the  representative  of  that  famous  capital,  and  swell- 
ed rapidly  into  a  city  of  over  half  a  million  of  people. 
Its  Senate  was  composed  of  three  hundred  nobles, 
which  fact  may  give  us  some  conception  of  the  power 
and  dignity  of  the  cit}^  When  the  Grecian  Em])ire 
in  Asia  fell  to  pieces,  Seleucia  became  an  independ- 
ent city ;  after  enjoying  a  covetable  pre-eminence  for 
several  centuries,  it  anjis  sacked  and  burned  by  the 


THE   LOWER   TIGRIS   AND   SHAT-EL-ARAB.         057 

Romans,  and  sank  into  the  forgetfulness  of  its  heaps 
and  mounds. 

Ctesiphon  was  founded  by  the  Parthian  kings,  and 
while  Seleucia  was  at  the  height  of  her  power  be- 
came the  populous  cajDital  of  those  Scythian  mon- 
archs.  Sacked  once  and  again  by  the  Roman  gen- 
erals, it  rises  as  often  from  its  ashes.  Later,  under 
the  name  of  Madayn,  the  city  was  made  the  capital 
of  the  Persian  kings,  and  became  again  the  abode  of 
royal  power  and  wealth  and  ephemeral  grandeur. 
This  time  the  wild  hordes  of  Arabia  were  the  de- 
stroyers. We  quote  from  Irving's  "Successors  of 
^lohammed  "  a  sino-le  incident  in  the  sackins;  of  the 
city  by  the  Arabs :  "  In  roving  through  the  streets, 
they  came  to  the  famous  palace  of  the  Khosrus,  be- 
gun by  Kobad  Ibn  Firuz,  and  finished  by  his  son 
Nushirwan,  constructecj  of  polished  marble,  and  call- 
ed the  White  Palace,  from  its  resplendent  appearance. 
As  they  gazed  at  it  in  wonderment,  they  called  to 
mind  the  prediction  of  Mohammed,  when  he  heard 
that  the  haughty  monarch  of  Persia  had  torn  his  let- 
ter :  '  Even  so  shall  Allah  rend  his  empire  in  pieces.' 
'  Behold  the  White  Palace  of  Khosru !'  cried  the 
Moslems  to  one  another.  '  This  is  the  fulfillment  of 
the  prophecy  of  the  Apostle  of  God  !' " 

The  great  arch  to  which  we  have  already  alluded 
is  the  only  trace  remaining  of  this  renowned  White 
Palace  of  Chosroes   (Khosru).      The  treasures   and 


'2o\ 


REMAINS   OF   LOST  EltlPIRES. 


magnificence  of  the  gorgeously  furnished  palace  turn- 
ed alike  the  heads  of  the  Arab  soldiers  and  of  all 
succeeding  historians.  Chambers  ostentatiously  or- 
namented with  "Oriental  luxury,"  and  filled  with 
"  precious  furniture  of  fabulous  worth ;"  armories  fill- 
ed with  weapons  "  bedecked  with  jewels  of  incalcu- 
lable value ;"  vaults  filled  with  treasures,  the  amount 
of  which  one  "hesitates  to  mention,"  but  which  an- 
other less  scrupulous  computes  at  "three  thousand 
of  thousands  of  thousands  of  pieces  of  gold ;"  "  a  sil- 
ver horseman  on  a  golden  horse,  and  a  golden  rider 
on  a  silver  camel ;"  a  silken  carpet,  on  which  "  a  para- 
dise or  garden  was  depicted  with  jewels  and  pre- 
cious stones,"  the  sparkling  fountains  "  wrought  with 
diamonds  and  sapphires;"  a  throne  of  "prodigious 
grandeur  suspended  on  silver  columns ;"  a  crown  "  set 
with  inestimable  jewels" — such  things  as  these  are 
well  calculated  to  inflame  the  imagination,  so  that  we 
do  not  wonder  at  this  array  of  glittering  adjectives 
with  which  Abulfeda,  D'Herbelot,  Gibbon,  Oakley, 
and  Irving  attempt  to  portray  the  glories  of  the  Per- 
sian palace. 

The  silk  carpet,  upon  which  was  depicted  the  par- 
adisaical garden,  with  shrubs  and  plants  and  fruit 
and  flowers  and  foliage,  all  most  skillfully  and  ar- 
tistically wrouglit  in  precious  stones  of  various  col- 
ors corresponding  to  those  of  nature,  has  probably 
excited  more  interest  than  any  other  article  of  the- 


THE   LOWER   TIGEIS  AND   SHAT-EL-ARAB.         259 

sumptuous  palace:  an  interest  due  as  much  to  its 
unworthy  fate  as  to  its  fabulous  richness  and  beauty. 
It  was  sent  by  Said,  the  Arabian  commander,  to  the 
Caliph  Omar,  at  Medina,  who,  with  the  true  instinct 
of  a  rude  barbarian,  divided  the  inimitable  product 
of  artistic  skill  and  taste  into  frasjments,  and  distrib- 
uted  the  pieces  to  his  chiefs. 

Madayn  constituted  an  important  city  of  the  first 
calij^hates,  and  must  have  been  quite  a  populous  city 
in  the  fourteenth  century ;  for  when  Tamerlane  swept 
over  these  plains  he  constructed  on  the  site  a  pyra- 
mid of  ninety  thousand  heads  of  the  chief  citizens. 
But  Seleucia,  Ctesiphon,  and  Madayn,  like  Babylon, 
to  which  they  succeeded  in  royal  patronage  and 
magnificence,  are  now  "  become  heaps,"  "  dry  plains," 
a  "  possession  for  the  bittern,"  a  "  dwelling  -  place 
for  the  wild  beasts  of  the  desert,"  and  "  the  wild 
beasts  of  the  islands,"  that  "  cry  in  their  desolate 
homes." 

Below  Ctesiphon  the  river  led  us  through  a  low, 
level,  half-barren  country,  partly  clothed  along  the 
river  with  low  shrubs,  and  in  j^laces  green  with  verd- 
ure. No  cultivation,  however,  was  visible ;  and  only 
occasionally  did  we  discover  an  Arab  camp  with  its 
flocks.  Far  away  toward  the  east  we  could  de- 
scry, with  the  aid  of  a  glass,  the  banks  of  the  great 
Nahrwan  canal,  running  like  a  vast  dike  of  sand 
across  the  desert.     This  canal  was  a  most  prodigious 


260  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIREO. 

work.  One  branch  left  the  Tigris  a  short  distance 
below  Diir,  and  another  just  below  Samarah,  and, 
joining  just  before  crossing  the  Adhem,  it  absorbed 
that  stream  as  a  feeder ;  and  then,  sweeping  on  nearly 
parallel  with  the  old  bed  of  the  Tigris,  absorbing  all 
the  streams  flowing  from  the  mountains  of  Persia, 
continued  its  course  southward  to  Kut,  where  it  again 
joined  the  Tigris.  The  entire  district  lying  between 
this  canal  and  the  Tigris  was  intersected  by  a  thou- 
sand arteries,  and  constituted  the  richest  province  of 
the  Persian  Empire.  "Parks  and  pleasure-grounds, 
palaces  and  hunting-seats  of  Sassanian  monarchs  and 
the  nobles  of  the  land,  served  to  diversify  the  glori- 
ous scene,  whose  beauty  was  further  enhanced  by  the 
splendid  armies  of  the  Persians  that  went  forth  to 
combat  the  legions  of  Kome."  But  the  wild  hordes 
of  the  False  Prophet  came  and  established  them- 
selves in  the  palace  of  the  Persian  kings.  Under  the 
first  caliphs  this  marvelously  fertile  district  returned 
an  immense  revenue.  As  late  as  A.D.  822  it  was 
still  in  a  prosperous  state;  but  with  the  decay  of 
the  power  of  the  caliphs  the  canals  fell  into  neglect. 
About  the  year  850  there  occurred  a  fearful  inunda- 
tion of  the  Tigris,  caused  probably  by  an  earthquake, 
and  the  river  found  a  new  channel  for  itself  to  the 
east  of  the  old  bed,  and  cut  the  canal,  which  lent  its 
water  to  aid  in  the  complete  devastation  of  the  coun- 
try.    Thus  a  region  abounding  in  paradises,  support- 


THE  LOWER  TIGRIS  AND   SHAT-EL-ARAB.         OQl 

ing  such  cities  as  Samarah,  Opis,  and  Ctesiplion,  was 
transformed  into  a  waste;  and  thoiigli  skill  and  en- 
ergy might  have  restored  the  broken  works,  these 
virtues  had  become  strangers  to  the  feeble  successors 
of  the  first  caliphs,  and  this  once  paradisaical  region 
was  given  over  to  neglect  and  desolation.  To-day  it 
is,  throughout  almost  its  entire  extent,  little  better 
than  a  howling  desert. 

Shoi'tly  after  twilight  we  dropped  anchor,  as  the 
sky  was  overcast  with  clouds,  and  the  darkness  too 
thick  to  allow  us  to  follow  with  safety  the  sinuos- 
ities of  the  river.  Early  the  next  morning  we  were 
again  under  way.  Low  banks,  just  one  or  two  feet 
above  the  river ;  wide  plains,  covered  sparsely  with 
bushes,  and  in  places  white  and  yellow  and  purple 
with  flowers ;  numerous  black  tents  and  herds  of  the 
Arabs ;  heavy  embankments  of  old  canals,  with  small- 
er and  more  recent  channels,  showing  to  what  puny 
dimensions  the  great  arteries  had  dwindled  before 
life  Avent  out ;  the  indistinct  outlines  of  the  Persian 
mountains  bordering  the  plains  to  the  east — these 
were  the  principal  features  of  the  scene  during  the 
early  part  of  the  day. 

Before  nio-ht  the  mountains  of  Luristan  were  risine; 
up  grandly  along  our  left,  so  near  that  we  could 
watch  the  shadows  of  the  clouds  playing  over  the 
slopes.  How  we  longed  for  a  ramble  over  them. 
We  imagined  a  hundred^ inviting  retreats  amid  the 


0(32  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

light  and  shade  of  the  hills,  and  readily  believed  it 
to  be  a  ^'pleasant  district,  composed  of  alternate 
mountain,  valley,  and  upland  plain,  abounding  in 
beautiful  glens,  richly  wooded,  and  full  of  gushing 
brooks  and  clear,  rapid  rivers."  Late  at  night  we 
dropped  anchor  at  Emmarah,  a  military  station,  hav- 
ing during  the  day  passed  the  small  Arab  village  of 
Kut-el-Amarah,  and  a  government  station,  estaldished 
for  the  purpose  of  attracting  a  settlement,  but  which 
had  failed  to  draw  many  natives.  The  Arabs  have 
wit  enough  to  keep  as  far  as  possible  from  Turkish 
oflBcials. 

It  was  scarcely  light  the  following  morning  as  we 
swung  away  from  Emmarah,  and  commenced  to  pass 
through  what  are  called  the  "  swamps."  The  river 
soon  dwindled  to  an  insignificant  canal,  as  considera- 
ble quantities  of  water  w^ere  drawn  off  into  these 
marshes.  The  portion  of  the  plain  not  submerged 
was  literally  covered  with  the  tents  and  flocks  of  the 
Arabs;  at  one  time  twenty  encampments  w^ere  in 
sight,  each  containing  from  ten  to  twenty  tents. 
From  all  the  nearer  encampments  the  young  savages 
rushed  to  the  banks  of  the  river,  in  pur  is  nataralihus, 
to  hail  us  as  we  passed. 

The  course  of  the  Tigris  through  this  marshy  dis- 
trict is  as  serpentine  as  tradition  made  the  Euphrates 
near  Arderica  in  the  days  of  Herodotus.  The  na- 
tives told  him  that  the  river  passed  and   repassed 


THE   LOWER  TIGRIS  AND   SHAT-EL-ARAB.         2(j'd 

that  town  three  times.^  This  seems  to  have  been 
too  much  even  for  the  "'  capacious  credulity  "  of  the 
itinerant  historian ;  and  we  too  once  considered  it 
hardly  probable.  But  since  our  experience  upon  the 
Tigris  we  scarcely  know  what  to  think  about  it. 
We  at  least  are  inclined  to  treat  all  differences  of 
opinion  on  the  subject  with  the  broadest  liberality. 

We  could  never  determine  whether  the  vessels, 
whose  masts  appeared  over  the  plain,  were  coming 
up  the  river,  or  were  those  we  had  passed.  One 
minute  we  were  steering  due  south,  and  the  next  our 
bow  was  headed  toward  the  polar  star. 

The  river  was  brimful,  so  that  the  agitation  pro- 
duced by  our  steamer  dashed  the  water  over  the 
bank.  Large  lakes  and  reed-covered  marshes  stretch- 
ed out  left  and  right.  The  mud  huts  of  the  Arabs 
stood  on  low  artificial  mounds,  raised  just  sufficient 
to  lift  them  above  the  water.  The  scene  looked 
very  like  that  presented  by  the  flooded  llanos  of 
the  Orinoco.  Aquatic  birds  hovered  over  the  sub- 
merged land ;  storks  and  pelicans  were  abundant ; 
buftaloes  wallowed  about  in  tbe  marshes;  and  the 

*  "  First  of  all  with  respect  to  the  River  Euphrates,  which  before  ran 
in  a  straight  line,  and  which  flowed  through  the  middle  of  the  city, 
this  by  having  channels  dug  above,  she  (Nitocris)  made  so  winding 
that  in  its  course  it  touches  three  times  at  one  and  the  same  village  in 
Assyria.  The  name  of  this  village  at  which  the  Euphrates  touches  is 
Arderica ;  and  to  this  day  those  who  go  from  our  sea  to  Babylon,  if 
they  travel  by  the  Euphrates,  come  three  times  to  this  villnge  on  three 
successive  days." — Herodotus,  "  Clio,"  bk.  i.,  §  185. 


0(34  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

young  Arabs,  quite  as  amphibious,  kicked  gleefully 
about  in  the  river.  The  most  conspicuous  objects 
passed  during  the  forenoon  were  two  large,  venera- 
ble trees,  with  beautiful,  wide-spreading  tops.  The 
Arabs  believe  that  spirits  hover  about  them.  Prob- 
ably so,  for  they  look  very  attractive. 

A  little  past  mid-day  we  reached  the  Arab  village 
of  Kornah,  situated  at  the  junction  of  the  Tigris  and 
Euphrates.  A  fine  grove  of  date-palms  covered  the 
triangle  of  land,  and  shrouded  the  huts  of  the  vil- 
lage. Kornah  is  one  of  the  many  spots  that  lays 
claim  to  being  the  site  of  the  Garden  of  Eden. 
With  the  beautiful  date  gardens  and  cultivated 
grounds,  it  is  a  sufficiently  pretty  spot  —  at  least 
would  be  were  the  Arabs  driven  out  of  the  groves, 
and  their  dirty  huts  washed  into  the  river.  Were 
Adam  to  return  to  his  first  home,  he  would  find  oth- 
er changes  than  those  introduced  by  the  Arabs. 
The  Franks  have  run  a  telegraph  line  through  it; 
and  from  Eden  we  might  have  sent  word  in  a  few 
hours  to  our  friends  in  New  York  as  to  how  we  were 
i^ettino:  alono;  in  the  Garden. 

o  o  o 

Of  all  the  countries  that  have  disputed  the  hon- 
or of  holding  the  site  of  the  first  home  of  the  race, 
Mesopotamia  has  certainly  the  best-founded  claims. 
Here,  beyond  reasonable  dispute,  are  at  least  two  of 
the  streams  mentioned  in  the  sacred  narrative:  the 
Euphrates  is  unmistakably  the  ancient  Phrath,  and 


THE   LOWER  TIGRIS  AND   SHAT-EL-ARAB.         265 

the  Tigris  the  Hiddekel — the  Arabic  name  for  the 
latter  being  to-day  Digleh,  which  is  simply  a  corruj^- 
tion  of  the  Biblical  name.  After  uniting  to  form  the 
Shat-el-Arab,  the  waters  of  these  two  streams  flow 
together  for  a  considerable  distance,  and  then  divide 
to  form  two  distinct  streams,  one  of  which  is  sup- 
posed to  represent  the  ancient  Gihon,  the  other  the 
Pison.  Somewhere  in  the  region  watered  by  these 
streams  we  must  undoubtedly  place  the  paradisaical 
abode  of  our  first  parents.  We  give  but  little  weight 
to  the  objection  that  Lower  Mesopotamia  has  been 
built  up  by  the  deposits  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates 
within  a  period  embraced  by  the  accepted  chronology 
of  man — such  calculations  are  falsified  by  historical 
evidence. 

From  Kornah  to  Basrah  the  Shat-el-Arab — the 
name  which  the  united  streams  of  the  Euphrates  and 
Tigris  assume — is  bordered  with  palms,  only  a  few 
openings  occurring  to  break  the  continuity  of  the 
fringe  of  groves.  Just  as  the  setting  sun  was  touch- 
ing the  fronds  of  the  tall  palms  with  gold  we  drop- 
ped anchor  at  Marghil,  a  small  Arab  village  three 
miles  above  Basrah,  buried  in  the  midst  of  date- 
groves.  Little  canals  wound  through  the  village, 
and  the  canoe-like  boats  of  the  natives  lay  moored 
along  the  banks,  beneath  the  thick,  overarching 
branches  of  the  mulberry.  The  exuberant  nature  of 
the   vegetation    along   these   watercourses,  and    the 


266  EEMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

half-concealed  canoes,  vividly  recalled  tropical  forest 
scenes  in  South  America.  The  numerous  mosquito- 
nets  hanging  between  the  trees  indicated  that  life 
here  was  not  altoo-ether  Eden-like. 

The  following  day  we  dropped  down  to  Basrah. 
This  town  is  situated  on  a  small  creek,  about  one 
mile  from  the  Shat  -  el  -  Arab.  The  fiimous  traveler 
Keppel,  who  visited  the  place  half  a  century  ago, 
says,  "  Bassorah  is  the  dirtiest  town  even  in  the 
Turkish  dominions."  It  has  not  improved  any  since 
that  time,  but  rather  grown  worse.  We  found  the 
bazaars,  like  the  streets,  narrow  and  dirty — so  un- 
cleanly, in  fact,  as  to  be  offensive  to  every  sense.  It 
is  true,  however,  that  we  saw  the  town  under  unfa- 
vorable circumstances.  There  was  at  the  time  of 
our  visit  great  destitution  among  the  lower  classes, 
resulting  from  the  Persian  famine,  which  w\as  severe- 
ly felt  at  Basrah.  Although  the  worst  had  been  ex- 
perienced some  months  before  our  arrival,  still  we 
saw  scores  of  helpless,  starving  wretches  lying  un- 
cared  for  in  the  streets.  We  were  glad  to  escape 
from  the  filth  and  heat  and  scenes  of  the  town  and 
get  back  on  our  steamer. 

But  while  the  town  itself  was  so  positively  unin- 
viting, we  found  the  gardens  that  surround  it  per- 
fectly enchanting.  One  evening  we  rowed  up  one 
of  the  numerous  canals  that  lead  from  the  river 
through  the  groves  and  gardens  of  the  western  bank. 


THE   LOWER  TIGRIS  AND   SHAT-EL-ARAB.         207 

The  deep  shades  of  the  water-path  afforded  a  pleas- 
ing relief  from  the  heat  and  glare  that  had  all  day 
long  burned  down  upon  the  river.  The  tall,  straight 
shafts  of  the  palms,  rising  thick  on  either  side,  formed 
a  hundred  labyrinthian  ways,  loftily  roofed  with  their 
frond-fretted  crowns.  So  closely  did  the  trees  press 
the  water-passage  that  only  a  narrow  strip  of  sky 
was  visible  overhead.  The  willow,  palm,  peach,  ap- 
ricot, mulberry,  pomegranate,  and  banana — each  lent 
a  different  shade  to  the  vegetation.  Grape-vines,  in 
all  the  attractiveness  of  a  free,  wild  growth,  formed 
dark  shadows  among  the  crowns  of  the  palms,  and, 
hanging  their  festoons  between  the  trees,  dropped 
them  to  the  water  —  always  grouping  their  foliage 
and  hanging  their  drooping  masses  so  as  never  to 
fail  of  those  charming,  graceful  effects  that  Nature 
loves.  Overhead,  amid  the  dark,  thick  crowns  of  the 
date-palms,  the  bursting  spathes  were  just  tossing 
out  their  long,  yellow  plumes,  which  nodded  and 
gleamed  there  like  Proserpina's  own  golden  bough, 
dispelling,  with  their  promises  of  plenty,  all  fear  of 
famine  again.  The  pomegranate,  too,  hung  with  its 
large  scarlet  flowers,  was  just  in  its  glory.  Up 
among  the  thick  clusters  of  leaves  that  crowned  the 
palms  hundreds  of  sparrows  were  making  the  groves 
resonant  with  their  shrill  -  toned  notes ;  while  the 
beautiful  jays,  as  if  conscious  that  they  were  made 
to  be  seen  rather  than  heard,  were  constantly  flitting 


268  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

across  tlie  channel  over  our  Leads,  Scarcely  one  of 
the  elements  of  a  South  American  scene  was  absent.  | 
Even  the  native  v\^as  there  with  his  canoe  and  pad-  I 
die;  several  passed  us  in  their  hollowed  logs,  pad-  ■ 
dling  like  Indians  down  the  water-]3ath.  The  whole 
picture  was  strikingly  similar  to  the  scene  presented 
by  one  of  those  narrow  water -channels,  called  by 
the  Indians  "  igara23es,"  that  thread  the  half-  sub- 
merged forest  of  the  Amazonian  valley.  There  was 
not,  it  is  true,  that  wild  exuberance,  that  selfish  ea- 
gerness, that  fierce  emulousness,  that  apparent  strife 
for  life  that  characterizes  those  tropical  forests;  but 
with  enough  of  luxuriance,  freedom,  and  rivalry,  and 
suflScient  fullness,  richness,  and  felicity  of  growth, 
there  was  a  calmness,  a  freedom  from  oppression,  a 
seeming  sympathy  and  harmony  with  one's  quieter 
moods,  that  is  not  found  amid  the  gloom  and  strife 
and  closely  mingled  life  and  death  of  the  Amazonian 
forests. 

We  pushed  on  through  the  water-path  a  distance 
of  two  miles,  the  depth  of  the  groves  that  form  this 
beautiful  border  to  the  river,  and  were  then  on  the 
edge  of  the  desert,  which  swej^t  out  to  the  western 
horizon.  Here  the  scene  suddenly  changed  to  a  thor- 
oughly Arabian  one.  An  Arab  had  just  brought 
his  favorite  and  beautiful  steed  to  the  bank  to  water. 
A  maiden  stood  up  to  her  knees  in  the  stream,  filling 
a  copper  vessel,  and  passing  it  uj)  to  the  man,  who 


THE   LOWER  TIGRIS  AND   SHAT-EL-ARAB.         0(39 

held  it  for  tlie  animal  to  drink ;  and  tlieu,  wliile  the 
vessel  was  being  refilled,  stroked  the  horse's  head, 
who,  as  though  fond  and  proud  of  the  attention, 
arched  his  neck  in  appreciative  acquiescence.  It  was 
a  true  picture  of  Arab  life. 

Turning  our  boat,  we  started  on  our  return.  It 
was  twilight  now,  and  the  stars  commenced  to  glim- 
mer down  through  the  crowns  of  the  palms,  while 
the  moon  lent  just  sufficient  light,  through  the  nar- 
row opening  that  the  palms  failed  to  roof,  to  guide 
us  through  the  water -path  and  out  on  the  river 
again ;  which,  sparkling  and  flashing  under  the  moon- 
light, ran  on  between  the  dark  lines  of  the  fringed 
banks  till  both  river  and  shores  were  lost  in  the 
near  indistinctness  of  the  night. 

The  day  after  our  arrival  at  Basrah  the  steamship 
Cashmere  entered  the  river.  She  had  on  board  sev- 
eral hundred  pilgrims  from  Mecca,  who  were  returning 
to  their  homes  in  India.  The  Digleh  had  brought 
down  the  river  about  a  hundred  Persian  Shiah  Mo- 
hammedans, who  had  been  making  a  pilgrimage  to 
the  holy  places  about  Bagdad.  These  were  now 
transferred  to  the  Cashmere.  Many  of  them  were 
wretchedly  unclean,  carrying  upon  their  persons  the 
dirt  accumulated  during  I:heir  visit  to  the  sacred 
places,  and  proud  in  the  possession  of  so  much  "  holy 
soil."  These  pilgrims,  now  that  steamship  lines  have 
been  established  upon  these  waters,  have  an   easy 


270  REMAINS   OF  LOST   EMPIRES. 

time  in  making  their  journeys.  During  some  montlis 
of  the  year  the  steamers  are  crowded  with  pilgrims. 
The  revenue  which  the  steamship  companies  receive 
from  this  source  is  almost  as  good  as  a  governmental 
suljsidy.  Thus  every  thing  has  its  use.  Increased 
facilities  for  making  pilgrimages  have  doubtless  in- 
creased the  number  that  undertake  them  from  the 
countries  thus  reached.  The  Haj  that  annually 
leaves  Damascus  for  Mecca  is  said  to  be  yearly  di- 
minishing in  number.  A  railroad  across  the  desert 
would  probably  lead  a  larger  number  to  think  more 
favorably  of  the  journey.  Who  knows  but  that  this 
idea  of  making  pilgrimages  will  be  one  of  the  en- 
couragements to  railway  enterprises  that  will  unite 
all  the  sacred  places  of  the  Mohammedan  world  to 
one  another,  and  to  other  parts  of  the  East?  The 
Christian  sentiment  respecting  pilgrimages  to  the 
holy  city  of  our  faith  is  to-day  building  a  railroad 
from  Jaffa  to  Jerusalem.  We  shall  see  in  due  time 
similar,  only  vaster,  results  issuing  from  what  has 
seemed  to  us  all  folly,  without  any  possible  purpose. 
From  the  Digleh,  on  which  w^e  had  received 
many  kind  courtesies  from  Captain  Holland,  we 
were  transferred  to  the  Caslimere,  only  to  receive 
equally  kind  and  courteous  attention  from  the  affa- 
,  ble  Captain  Avery.  On  the  morning  of  the  21st 
of  April,  after  a  delay  of  three  days  at  Basrah — 
during  which   Captain  Avery   made   a   visit  to  the 


THE  LOWER   TIGRIS  AND   SHAT-EL-ARAB.        271 

Garden  of  Eden — we  weighed  anchor  and  resumed 
our  journey  down  the  river.  Occasionally  the  fine 
summer  residence  of  some  wealthy  native  was  passed, 
half  concealed  in  groves  of  dates.  Breaks  in  the 
fringe  of  vegetation  at  times  led  the  eye  through 
upon  the  desert;  in  places,  rich  fields  of  grain  re- 
placed the  border  of  palms.  We  were  constantly 
exclaiming,  "  What  a  wonderful  .country !  it  sur- 
passes Egypt."  In  its  capabilities  we  meant,  of 
course.  All  that  is  needed  is  skillful  irrigation  to 
spread  the  narrow  border  of  green,  that  at  present 
simply  fringes  the  river,  over  the  now  desert  plains. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  we  reached  Fao,  a  telegraph 
station,  the  TIJtima  Tlivle  of  the  Turkish  dominions. 
Soon  after  leaving  this  station  we  lost  sight  of  land ; 
and  before  night  we  exchanged  the  turl:>id  waters  of 
the  Shat-el-Arab  for  the  clear  cerulean  waters  of  the 

Persian  Gulf 

T 


272  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 


CHAPTER  X. 

CAEAVAN    LIFE    IN    PERSIA. 

First  View  of  the  "Land  of  Roses."— The  Town  of  Bushire.— Startled 
by  a  Velocipede. — A  Dragoman  who  Wanted  to  See  the  Country.— 
Persian  Mendacity.— A  CMrmdar  on  Time.— What  Xenophon  says 
about  Persian  Character.— Departure  from  Bushire.— Traveling  by 
Night.— A  Sand- Storm.— Telegraph  Line  Prostrated.— Brazgoon.— 
Effects  of  the  Famine.— Dalikee.— The  Edge  of  the  Great  Plateau  of 
Iran.— Mountain  Wildness  and  Beauty.— A  Detention.— A  Mountain 
Trail.— The  Pass  of  Mullook.— The  Plain  of  Khisht.— Moslem  Devo- 
tions.—The  Village  of  KoonarTukhteh.— The  Pass  of  Kumaridj.— A 
Sequestered  Spot.— The  Plain  of  Kauzeroon.— The  Town.— Persian 
Way  of  Advertising.— The  Simplon  of  Persia.— A  Lovely  Vale.— The 
Pass  of  the  Old  Woman.— Deshti  Arjun.— A  Geological  Phenomenon. 
A  Lion  among  our  Animals. — Banditti.— Gardens  of  Shiraz,— Pil- 
grims Welcomed  Home. 

On-  the  morning  of  the  20th  of  April,  our  steamer, 
having  crossed  the  head  of  the  Persian  Gulf  in  one 
night,  dropped  anchor  off  the  sea-port  of  Bushire. 
There  was  nothing  in  our  first  view  of  Persia  to  re- 
mind us  that  we  were  entering  the  "  land  of  roses, 
poets,  and  nightingales ;"  nothing  to  give  hope  that 
our  early  visions  of  paradisaical  delights  were  to  be 
realized,  save  the  promise  of  the  shadowy  outlines 
of  mountains  that  rose  far  inland  beyond  the  low 
desert  coast,  and  among  whose  dim  retreats  the  im- 
ao-ination  could  create  all  sorts  of  Oriental  paradises, 


CAKAVAN  LIFE  IN  PERSIA.  273 

Bushire,  or  Abu-Sher,  "Father  of  Cities,"  is  the 
principal  sea-port  of  Persia,  aud  lias  a  population  of 
about  twenty  thousand.     The  situation  of  the  town 
is  in  some  respects  similar  to  that  of  Beyrout,     Like 
the  Syrian  city,  it  stands  at  the  extremity  of  a  prom- 
inent cape,  and  inland  rise  lofty  hills  that  take  the 
place    of  the    Lebanon    range.     But    here    the    re- 
semblance ends.     The  olive  orchards,  that  are  the 
glory   of  Beyrout,  are   here  wanting,  and  the   eye 
wanders   inland  unrelieved  over   a  wretched  sand- 
plain.    The  town  is  defended,  or  at  least  surrounded, 
by  ruinous  walls,  pierced  on  the  side  facing  the  desert 
by  a  single  gate — which  under  the  circumstances  is 
quite  sufficient,  as  the  want  of  a  greater  number  is 
supplied  by  the  numerous  gaps  in  the  walls.     The 
buildings  are  constructed  of  the  porous  limestone  on 
which  the  town  stands.     The  bazaars  and  streets  are 
narrow  and  crooked ;  and  as  respects  the  general  ap- 
pearance of  the  place,  the  traveler  arriving  from  Bag- 
dad detects  but  little  that  is  new  or  novel.     The 
foreign  Eesidencies,  the  only  really  fine  buildings  in 
the   town,  stand   on   commanding   ground  fronting 
the  sea.     The  population  is  composed  of  Arabs  and 
Persians,  the   former   largely    predominating.     The 
peculiar   high  Persian   cap   of  black   lamb -skin   is 
seldom  seen,  the  skull-cap  and  turban  being  almost 
universally  worn.     The  greater  part  of  the  inhab- 
itants are  Shiah  Mohammedans ;  there  are,  however, 


274  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

two  Jewisli  synagogues  and  one  Armenian  Christian 
church.  There  are  about  thirty  Europeans  in  Bu- 
shire  connected  with  the  foreign  Residencies  and  the 
English  telegraph  and  steamship  companies.  Upon 
the  evening  of  our  arrival,  while  strolling  through 
the  town,  we  encountered  one  of  these  Franks 
driving  a  velocipede  through  the  street !  We  were 
quite  as  much  startled  as  when  the  carriage  of  the 
Pasha  of  Bagdad  loomed  up  amid  clouds  of  dust  on 
the  Babylonian  plains. 

We  were  fortunate  in  arriving  at  Bushire  just  as  a 
large  caravan  was  about  to  start  for  Shiraz;  for  the 
disturbed  state  of  the  country,  a  result  of  the  famine, 
rendered  it  extremely  hazardous  to  travel  save  in 
company  with  a  considerable  party.  Arrangements 
were  quickly  entered  into  with  the  chdrvadar,  the 
person  who  had  charge  of  the  caravan,  and  horses 
were  engaged  for  the  trip,  a  journey  of  eleven  days. 

Our  next  need  was  that  of  a  good  dragoman. 
This  was  supplied  in  the  form  of  a  slender  boy, 
thirteen  years  of  age,  from  Bombay,  who  could  speak 
Hindustani,  Arabic,  Persian,  and  a  little  English. 
There  was  proud  Portuguese  blood  in  his  veins,  and 
his  dio-nified  bearinc:  was  so  different  from  the  cring- 
ing  obsequiousness  of  the  native  Persians,  and  he 
evinced  such  a  decided  personality  and  manly  self 
respect,  that  we  were  strongly  inclined,  notwith- 
standing his  age,  to  engage  him.     While  we  were 


CARAVAN  LIFE   IN  PERSIA.  275 

hesitating,  he  told  us  that  he  desired  very  much  to 
go  with  us  in  order  to  see  the  country.  That  decided 
the  matter.  It  was  so  refreshins:  to  find  a  native  im- 
bued  with  the  love  of  travel,  just  for  its  own  sake, 
that  we  engaged  him  at  once. 

Our  chdrvadar  had  agreed  to  bring  the  horses  to 
our  rooms  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  day 
following  the  engagement;  so  that  hour  found  us, 
with  every  thing  securely  packed,  sitting  on  the 
top  of  our  baggage  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  man 
with  the  horses.  Then,  having  nothing  else  to  do, 
we  commenced  to  talk  about  our  chdrvadar;  and 
the  thought  suddenly  occurred  to  us  that  he  might 
not  come.  There  we  had  hurried  to  finish  all  our 
packing  as  though  the  hour  of  our  departure  had 
been  in  the  time-table  of  an  English  railway-office. 
It  was,  of  course,  no  way  probable  that  our  clidr- 
vadar  would  start  on  the  day  promised.  He  had 
named  an  early  day  for  fear  we  might  be  led  to 
make  arrangements  with  other  parties.  He  would 
put  us  off  from  day  to  day,  and  we  would  doubtless 
be  detained  thus  in  Bushire  a  full  week,  perhaps  two 
weeks.  How  strange  we  should  have  believed  the 
rascal.  We  knew  well  enough — for  had  it  not  been 
taught  us  from  our  infancy  ? — that  the  Persians  were 
all  unconscionable  liars.  Of  course  the  scoundrel 
had  lied  to  us  about  the  time  of  starting,  just  to 
secure  the   engagement  of  his  horses.     How  unac- 


276  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

coimtably  stupid  in  us  to  imj^ose  such  confidence  in  a 
Persian.  A  chdrvadar  on  time !  An  Arab  carter jee 
never  thinks  of  starting  until  a  week  after  the  ap- 
pointed day.  Then  what  might  be  ex^^ected  of  a 
Persian  clidrvadar.  We  were  innocents  indeed.  We 
had  acted  just  as  though  we  were  among  good  Chris- 
tians, instead  of  among  a  nation  of  inveterate  liars. 
We  ought  to  have  made  engagements  with  halfa- 
dozen  cJmrvadars:  told  each  one  that  we  had  five 
others  to  select  from  in  case  he  were  not  on  hand 
the  day  promised.  But  what  a  preposterous  idea — 
to  be  sitting  on  our  baggage  waiting  for  a  chdrvadar 
who  knows  he  has  no  competitors.  After  all  our 
experience  with  Arabs,  whose  reputation  for  veracity 
is  infinitely  better  than  that  of  these  mendacious  Per- 
sians, our  gullibility  was  any  thing  but  flattering. 
And  here  is  another  idea :  those  horses  will  be  ema- 
ciated, sore-backed,  ill-favored,  kine-like  beasts.  Well, 
we  were  stupid  indeed. 

And  so  we  sat  atop  of  our  baggage  in  supreme 
disgust,  each  helping  the  other  to  a  proj)er  realiza- 
tion of  the  circumstances.  Just  then  our  boy  Jakee 
came  flying  into  the  room :  "  Kum,  horsee.  Sahib !" 
We  rushed  to  the  door,  and,  sure  enough,  there  in 
our  courtyard  stood  four  of  the  best  animals  we  had 
seen  since  leaving  London.  Then  and  there  we  re- 
solved that  the  fact  should  be  duly  recorded  to  the 
credit  of  Persian  cltdrvadars.     We  are  only  sorry  to 


CARAVAN  LIFE  IN  PERSIA.  277 

be  compelled  to  add  that  subsequent  experience  will 
not  enable  us  to  say  any  thing  further  to  redeem  the 
Persians  from  the  charge  so  often  reiterated,  of  their 
unconscionable  mendacity  and  reckless  disregard  for 
the  sacredness  of  a  promise.  According  to  their  own 
confession,  as  recorded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Southgate, 
they  will  never  tell  the  truth  if  they  can  help  it. 
While  the  writer  mentioned  w^as  traveling  in  Persia, 
he  was  led  on  one  occasion  to  question  a  group  that 
had  gathered  about  him  respecting  tliis  national  fail- 
ing. "  Yes,"  said  a  gray-headed  listener,  "  w^e  lie  ev- 
ery time  we  can."  The  reverend  gentleman  adds: 
"  I  looked  at  the  old  man  in  astonishment,  but  was 
convinced  that  for  once  he  was  telling  the  truth." 

Darius,  in  a  Persepolitan  inscription,  makes  this  in- 
vocation :  "  May  Ormazd  protect  this  province  from 
slavery,  from  decrepitude,  from  lyingP  Xenophon 
says  that  the  Persian  boys  were  taught  three  things : 
to  ride,  to  shoot  the  bow,  and  to  tell  the  truth ;  from 
which  some  have  inferred  that  the  Persians  were  for- 
merly a  very  truthful  people;  but  others,  and  j^rob- 
ably  svith  more  conformity  to  the  facts,  have  drawn 
an  exactly  opposite  inference ;  for  the  opposing  vice 
of  lying  must  have  been  very  popular  to  necessitate 
making  the  virtue  of  truthfulness  such  a  prominent 
feature  in  the  education  of  the  youth.  The  only 
change  since  the  times  of  Xenophon  is,  that  whereas 
they  then  seemed  to  have  some  conscience  about  the 


278  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

matter,  they  have  now  got  over  this  weakness,  and 
the  truth  is  neither  spoken  nor  taught. 

That  evening  we  rode  out  to  a  caravansary,  about 
two  miles  from  the  city  gate,  where  our  caravan  was 
to  muster.  On  arrival  there  we  found  that  a  large 
number  of  pilgrims,  natives  of  Shiraz,  which  the 
steamer  had  brought  from  their  trip  to  the  Persian 
shrines  near  Bagdad,  were  to  accompany  our  caravan. 
The  season  had  so  far  advanced  that  traveling  could 
not  safely  be  performed  during  the  heat  of  the  day, 
so  by  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  our  caravan  was  on 
the  move,  creeping  noiselessly  over  the  parched  plain, 
from  which  a  heated  breath  was  still  rising.  The 
sun  had  scarcely  risen  before  the  heat  became  intol- 
erable ;  and  reaching  a  few  straggling  palms,  near  a 
village  called  by  the  natives  Chughaduk,  we  halted, 
and  passed  the  day  beneath  the  scanty  shade  w^hich 
they  afforded. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  a  heavy  sand-storm  loomed 
up  in  the  distant  horizon,  and  came  sweeping  on  to- 
ward us,  black  as  night.  Scarcely  had  we  formed 
our  ba£»:o:a2-e  in  barricades,  and  thrown  ourselves  be- 
hind  them,  with  our  heads  wrapped  in  our  blankets, 
before  the  storm  was  upon  us.  For  more  than  an 
hour  a  thick,  suffocating  cloud  of  dust  and  sand  drift- 
ed over  us.  The  storm  was  an  unusually  severe  one, 
and  swept  the  plain  wdth  all  the  force  of  a  tornado. 
A  long  stretch  of  the  telegrajih  that  ran  across  the 


CARAVAN   LIFE   IN  PERSIA.  279 

desert  just  a  little  way  from  us  was  prostrated,  and 
six  of  the  iron  poles — hollow  cylindrical  tubes,  five 
inches  in  diameter  at  base,  supporting  a  double  line 
of  wires — were  snapped  off,  just  above  the  ground, 
like  pipe-stems.  The  telegraph  agent  afterward  in- 
formed us  that  in  his  long  experience  he  had  never 
before  known  of  such  an  accident  occurring  to  the 
line.  After  the  storm  had  passed  the  moon  shone 
out  softly,  and  the  atmosphere  was  as  calm  as  though 
never  agitated  by  a  breath  of  wind. 

Early  in  the  evening  we  resumed  our  journey.  A 
long  ride  of  about  thirty  miles  brought  us  to  the  vil- 
lage of  Brazgoon,  situated  only  a  few  miles  from  the 
edge  of  the  great  plateau,  which  here  in  hopelessly 
barren  hills  breaks  down  to  the  plain  of  the  coast. 
Immediately  about  Brazgoon  the  plain  was  culti- 
vated, and  covered  with  wheat  and  barley  just  ready 
to  harvest. 

It  was  here  that  we  first  saw  the  effects  of  the  fiim- 
ine  that  for  two  years  had  been  desolating  Persia. 
Bushire,  through  its  connections  by  steamship  lines 
with  India  and  Egypt,  had  received  relief  from  those 
countries,  and  at  the  time  of  our  visit  there  was  no 
apparent  suftering  among  the  inhabitants  of  that 
town.  But  owing  to  the  difficulty  attending  trans- 
portation in  Persia,  provisions  could  not  be  thrown 
into  the  inland  towns,  and  consequently  the  suffering 
in  such  was  intense  and  unrelieved.     Brazgoon,  be- 


280  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

fore  the  famine,  was  a  town  of  six  thousand  inhabit- 
ants, of  which  number  barely  a  thousand  were  now 
left:  tw^o  thousand  had  died  upon  the  sj^ot,  and  as 
many  more  had  perished  in  the  town  of  Bushire, 
whither  large  numbers  flocked  for  relief ;  but  Persian 
charity  is  unkind,  and  the  poor  wretches  were  left  to 
die  by  hundreds  in  the  bazaars  and  streets,  where 
the  bodies  were  permitted  to  lie  unburied.  It  was  a 
sad  scene  that  the  town  of  Brazgoon  presented  to  us 
as  w^e  walked  through  it.  The  buildings,  which  were 
small  mud  structures,  like  those  of  an  Arab  village, 
were  falling  into  ruins;  the  bazaars  were  deserted, 
save  two  or  three  stalls  where  a  little  maust,  or  cur- 
dled milk,  a  few  dates,  and  a  little  barley  were  being 
carefully  weighed,  and  doled  out  in  scant  pittances  to 
some  half  famished  wretches  in  return  for  the  money 
held  out  by  shriveled  hands.  The  telegraph  agent, 
a  young  Armenian,  who  kindly  entertained  us,  was 
daily  distributing  barley  to  over  eight  hundred  beg- 
gars, means  being  furnished  by  the  relief  fund  from 
India  and  England.  The  funds  in  his  hands  were 
already  nearly  exhausted,  and  he  was  fearful  they 
might  fail  before  the  approaching  harvest  should 
bring  permanent  relief  We  asked,  "  What  will  these 
poor  creatures  do,  if  your  means  give  out  ?"  "  They 
must  die,"  was  the  brief  reply. 

At  midnight  we  left  Brazgoon,  and  reached  Dalikee, 
four  farsaklis  distant,  early  the  following  morning. 


CARAVAN  LIFE  IN  PERSIA.  281 

having  traversed  a  stony,  undulating  plain,  deeply 
furrowed  by  the  winter  torrents  that  pour  from  the 
table-lands  of  the  interior.  Dalikee  was  a  fair  repre- 
sentative of  the  Persian  villages  we  saw,  being  in  a 
ruinous  condition  and  half  deserted.  The  Dalikee 
River,  which  at  this  point  descends  from  the  plateau, 
is  a  real  comucojna  to  the  plain,  spreading  out  a 
beautiful  green  delta  of  gardens  and  groves  about 
the  village. 

From  Dalikee  the  road  that  lifts  the  traveler  from 
the  Germsir,  or  low  coast  plain,  to  the  Serdsir,  or  ele- 
vated regions  of  the  interior,  carries  him  through 
scenery  almost  unrivaled  in  unique  combinations  and 
picturesqueness,  wildness  and  beauty.     The  most  pe- 
culiar and  interesting  features  of  the  scenery  are  cre- 
ated by  the  somewhat  unusual  geological  structure 
of  the  country.     The  interior  of  Persia  consists  of  an 
elevated  table-land,  called  the  Great  Plateau  of  Iran, 
raised  to  an  averao-e  elevation  of  over  four  thousand 
feet,  and  defended  on  all  sides  by  lofty  parapets  of 
mountains.     Upon  the  south,  instead  of  sloping  grad- 
ually to  the  coast,  the  lofty  plateau,  from  an  elevation 
of  five  thousand  feet,  breaks  down  abruptly,  dropping 
in  three  gigantic  steps  or  terraces  to  the  low  plain 
already  referred  to.      The  faces  of  these  successive 
terraces  are  so  abrupt,  lofty,  and  wild,  that  in  climb- 
ing them  the  traveler  is  at  times  surrounded  by  scen- 
ery thoroughly  Alpine  in  its  grandeur  and  imi^ress- 


282  EEMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

iveness.  Indeed,  before  the  plateau  is  reached,  the 
"  Simplon  of  Persia  "  must  be  scaled.  The  landing- 
places  that  are  gained  as  the  successive  steps  are 
mounted  are  plains  or  valleys  whose  spring  beauty 
is  unrivaled.  Forests,  too,  shade  some  portions  of  the 
higher  passes,  so  that  none  of  the  best  elements  of 
mountain  scenery  are  wanting.  The  attractions  of 
early  spring  in  this  mountainous  district  of  Persia  are 
much  greater  than  we  ever  imagined.  Then  the  val- 
leys are  freshened  to  a  rich  emerald  hue,  and  strewn 
profusely  with  flowers,  while  the  baldness  of  the 
rocks  is  relieved  by  the  new,  bright  foliage  of  the 
shrubs  and  trees  that  cling  to  their  ruggedness.  We 
do  not  now  think  of  that  land  as  utterly  heaven-for- 
saken, and  lying  blasted  and  barren  through  all  the 
months.  But  this  early  spring  beauty,  like  the  fresh- 
ness of  youth,  soon  fades,  and  then  Persia  lies  sear 
and  forbidding,  till  the  long  months  bring  the  resur- 
rection of  another  spring.  When  we  ascended  to 
Shiraz  the  country  was  so  attractive  as  to  elicit  our 
constant  surprise  and  admiration ;  but  only  a  few 
weeks  later,  on  our  return,  the  cool,  refreshing  breezes 
had  become  the  withering  breath  of  the  furnace ;  the 
verdure  was  blasted  as  though  swept  by  fire ;  and 
mountain  and  valley  presented  a  scene  as  burned 
and  blighted  as  an  unpitying  sun  ever  looked  down 
upon. 

Our  caravan  mysteriously  lay  at  Dalikee  an  entire 


CAEAVAN  LIFE  IN  PERSIA.  283 

day.  Our  cluh'vadar  persisted  in  trying  to  make  us 
believe  that  the  occasion  of  the  detention  was  a 
strayed  jackass,  which  aberrant  animal  it  required 
all  day  to  find.  He  had  other  reasons  for  delaying, 
as  we  afterward  ascertained,  which  he  knew  would  be 
scarcely  accepted  by  us,  and  hence  his  fabrication  of 
this  scape-goat  at  the  expense  of  a  perfectly  innocent 
donkey.  So  it  was  not  till  the  second  night  after  our 
arrival  at  Dalikee  that  we  resumed  our  journey. 
Almost  immediately  we  entered  a  ravine,  which  by  a 
steep,  wild  path  led  us  over  the  edge  of  the  upturned 
strata  of  rock.  All  night  we  labored  over  a  rocky 
trail  that  led  along  broken  ranges  and  through  nar- 
row, rugged,  and  gloomy  defiles.  Toward  morning 
we  commenced  to  make  a  bold,  precij^itous  ascent, 
called  the  Kotul,  or  Pass  of  Mullook.  The  cliff, 
viewed  from  below,  seemed  to  present  an  impassable 
barrier  to  our  progress;  but  the  path  commenced 
boldly  to  scale  the  rock  by  innumerable  zigzags, 
and  gradually  lifted  us  above  the  dark  valley  to- 
ward the  overhanging  summit.  The  light  of  the 
stars  was  just  sufiScient  to  reveal  the  outlines  of  the 
scenery  immediately  around  and  above  us,  while 
the  deep  valleys  were  lost  in  blackness.  A  few 
thorny  shrubs  and  hardy  plants  clung  to  the  other- 
wise barren  rocks.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a 
wilder  scene  of  a  torn  and  convulsed  nature  among 
Alps  or  Andes. 


284  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

Just  as  the  day  broke  we  gained  the  summit  of 
the  pass,  where  almost  on  a  level  with  our  feet  the 
beautiful  plain  of  Khisht  stretched  out  five  or  six 
miles  to  the  broken  edge  of  the  second  great  terrace. 
The  valley  was  just  in  its  spring  glory.  Luxuriant 
pasture-lands, profusely  decorated  with  flowers;  broad 
fields  of  grain,  white  to  the  harvest ;  villages  sur- 
rounded by  date-groves ;  black  tents  and  flocks  of 
the  Eeliauts — these  were  the  prominent  features  that 
made  up  the  semi-agricultural,  semi-nomadic  scene. 
All  around  bleak,  verdureless  hills  framed  in  the 
plain  with  their  hopeless  sterility. 

When  our  long  caravan  had  all  escaped  from  the 
windings  of  the  pass  and  obtained  the  plain,  we 
halted  for  morning  prayers ;  for  the  pilgrims  of  our 
company  were  all  good  Moslems,  and  always  observed 
with  great  regularity  the  hour  appointed  for  the 
earliest  devotions  of  the  day.  Both  men  and  women 
first  performed  their  ablutions,  passing  the  hand 
which  aj^plied  the  water  from  the  elbow  downward, 
instead  of  from  the  hand  upward,  as  is  the  custom 
with  the  Soonees  of  Turkey.  The  mats  and  blankets 
were  then  spread,  on  which  they  stood  or  kneeled 
while  performing  their  varied  prostrations.  During 
these  seasons  of  devotion  the  animals  of  the  caravan 
were  allowed  to  wander  at  will.  Often  the  little 
donkeys,  browsing  thoughtlessly  about  with  their 
awkward  loads,  ^vould  cause  serious  interruptions; 


CARAVAN  LIFE   IN  PERSIA.  285 

and  occasionally  some  profane  mule,  on  some  slight 
provocation,  probably  a  punch  from  the  corner  of  a 
box  carried  by  an  innocent  donkey,  would  commence 
to  kick  furiously,  causing  a  panic  among  the  ani- 
mals in  his  immediate  vicinity.  Then  the  worshij?- 
ers  would  fly  from  their  mats — the  women  to  seek 
safety,  the  men  to  quiet  the  tumult. 

While  our  pilgrims  were  engaged  in  their  devo- 
tions, we  dismounted  and  threw  ourselves  on  the 
grass  to  enjoy  the  scenery,  and  the  cool,  fresh,  invig- 
orating air  into  which  our  elevation  had  lifted  us. 
Then,  as  our  caravan  commenced  to  move,  we  re- 
mounted and  rode  to  Koonar  Tukhteh,  a  small  vil- 
lage, containing  a  good  caravansary,  situated  in  the 
midst  of  the  plain  and  surrounded  by  date-groves. 
The  palms  of  these  groves  depend  upon  irrigation, 
but  agriculture  in  the  valley  relies  upon  the  natural 
fall  of  rain,  the  grain  ripening  and  being  harvested 
before  the  dry,  hot  weather  commences.  Hundreds 
of  acres  of  wheat  and  bai'ley  were  almost  ready  for 
harvesting,  being  just  a  little  behind  the  fields  of  the 
Germsir.  It  made  our  hearts  rejoice  as,  recalling  all 
that  the  people  of  Persia  had  suffered  for  two  long 
years,  we  cast  our  eyes  over  the  fields  loaded  with 
their  rich  treasures  of  food,  almost  ready  for  the  re- 
maining halfstarved  population.  The  palms,  too, 
were  shaking  gleefully  their  rich,  heavy  clusters  of 
young  dates,  promising  more  than  enough  to  meet 


286  EEMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

every  want.  Nature  seemed  unpi tying  when  she 
withheld,  and  equally  glad  did  she  now  seem^  as  she 
held  out  more  than  her  usual  gifts;  for  there  were 
promises  of  a  more  abundant  harvest  than  Persia 
had  known  for  many  years. 

April  28tJi.  Two  hours  past  midnight  we  were 
again  in  the  saddle.  Morning  found  us  climbing  the 
Pass  of  Kumaridj,  a  more  difficult  and  grander  one 
than  that  of  Mullook.  The  rock  was  a  variegated 
limestone,  consisting  of  gray,  drab,  white,  and  yellow 
strata ;  in  some  places  fibrous  and  rock  gypsum  oc- 
curred. Whole  mountains  of  strata  were  tilted  up 
and  set  on  end.  In  one  instance  an  immense  mass, 
that  swept  up  grandly  hundreds  of  feet  in  the  air,  ex- 
hibited its  top  bent  over  and  folded  down  upon  itself, 
as  if  the  strata,  when  tilted  wp,  were  too  soft  to  main- 
tain themselves  in  an  upright  position.  Our  jDath 
led  up  the  almost  perpendicular  face  of  an  enormous 
fissure,  mounting  by  short  zigzags,  guarded  by  low 
ramparts. 

After  turning  the  summit,  the  rocky  path  led  by 
a  gentle  descent  to  the  vale  of  Kumaridj.  It  was 
a  beautiful,  sequestered  mountain  valley,  about  five 
miles  in  length  and  two  in  breadth,  green  as  an  em- 
erald. Formerly  it  must  have  constituted  a  lake  bot- 
tom. Tlie  level  sea  of  verdure  formed  islets  of  sev- 
eral little  brown  mounds  that  rose  from  the  level  sur- 
face, and  created  miniature  bays  and  gulfs  as  it  flowed 


CARAVAN  LIFE  IN  PERSIA.  287 

in  the  deep  indentations  of  the  bordering  hills.  The 
mountains  around,  brown  and  rocky  and  verdureless, 
were  in  rude  keeping  with  the  beautiful  little  emerald 
they  embraced.  We  descended  from  the  sterile  hills 
to  the  little  village  of  Kumaridj,  which  lay  close  un- 
der the  western  wall  of  the  valley.  The  buildings 
were  constructed  of  stone,  the  roofs  being  flat  and 
covered  with  turf;  the  severity  of  the  climate  of  the 
valley,  during  a  portion  of  the  year,  compelling  the 
inhabitants  to  construct  warmer  and  more  substantial 
buildings  than  are  found  in  the  villages  of  the  coast. 
The  village  appeared  to  have  suffered  but  little  from 
the  famine,  for  the  larger  portion  of  the  dwellings 
were  occupied,  and  w^e  were  importuned  by  only  a 
small  number  of  beggars. 

At  midnight,  w^ith  the  moon  lighting  up  the  scen- 
ery grandly,  our  long  caravan  was  moving  slowly 
over  the  plain,  nothing  save  the  tread  of  the  animals, 
breaking  the  deep  stillness  of  the  night.  A  long, 
narrow,  winding,  rugged  defile  led  us  from  the  vale 
of  Kumaridj  to  the  plain  of  Kauzerun,  one  of  the 
most  fertile  valleys  of  Persia.  The  considerable  river 
of  Khisht  flows  through  the  plain,  portions  of  which 
are  intersected  bv  irriojants  led  off  from  this  stream. 
It  contains  the  city  of  Kauzerun,  which  until  quite 
recently  was,  next  to  Shiraz,  the  most  important  and 
populous  city  of  the  province  of  Fars. 

On  the  cliffs  of  a  narrow,  lateral  valley  opening 

U 


288  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

into  this  plain  are  the  celebrated  remains  and  rock- 
sculptures  of  Shapur,  consisting  of  several  large  tab- 
lets, filled  with  figures  in  alto-relievo.  We  made  a 
detour  of  several  miles  to  visit  these  interesting 
sculptures,  and  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  day 
in  examining  the  different  tablets,  only  a  curtail- 
ed description  of  which,  however,  we  can  introduce 
here. 

The  site  of  the  ancient  city  of  Shapur  was  well 
chosen.  Before  the  city  lay  spread  out  the  broad 
plain  of  Kauzerun,  while  back  of  it  the  picturesque 
valley  of  Shapur  broke  through  the  hills,  and  opened 
a  charminf^  vista  far  back  into  the  mountains.  The 
earliest  Persian  kings  founded  here  a  large  city,  which 
is  thought  to  have  been  destroyed  at  the  time  of  the 
Grecian  invasion.  In  the  third  century  of  our  era 
King  Shapur  erected  upon  the  ruins  of  the  earlier 
city  the  capital  of  his  dominions.  This  is  supposed 
to  have  been  swept  away  by  the  Mohammedan  con- 
querors. Tlie  site  is  now  covered  with  grass-grown 
heaps,  some  of  which  evidently  belong  to  a  remote 
antiquity. 

The  celebrated  sculptures  are  cut  in  the  face  of  the 
precipices  that  form  the  walls  of  the  valley  of  Sha- 
pur, to  which  we  have  already  referred.  There  are 
six  tablets  in  the  series ;  the  first  on  the  left,  as  we 
enter  the  valley,  forms  a  large  circular  recess,  about 
thirty  feet  in  width.     It  is  divided  into  four  horizon- 


CARAVAN  LIFE  IN  PERSIA.  289 

tal  compartments,  crowded  -with  figures  that  form 
loiig  processions  on  foot  and  on  horse.  Before  the 
king  is  a  figure  holding  out  a  ring,  symbolic  of  sover- 
eignty. The  elephant  is  also  introduced  among  the 
figures,  which  animal  once  constituted  an  important 
feature  of  a  Persian  army.  The  whole  tablet  is  well 
executed,  and  a  good  deal  of  animation  is  thrown  into 
the  different  figures. 

The  tablet  most  deserving  of  praise,  for  artistic 
merit,  is  a  large  sculpture,  about  thirty  feet  in  length 
and  twenty  in  height,  representing  two  horsemen  of 
gigantic  size,  into  which  the  artist  has  succeeded  in 
infusing  a  remarkable  degree  of  life  and  spirit.  In 
another  tablet  the  heads  of  captives  are  being  brought 
in  and  laid  before  the  king.  Thus  the  Persian  artist, 
as  well  as  the  Assyrian,  has  succeeded  in  immortaliz- 
ing the  cruelty  and  l^arbarism  of  his  sovereign.  The 
stones  were  insj^ired  that  they  might  tell  to. all  com- 
ing time  the  praises  of  an  ambitious  king ;  but  they 
have  forgotten  that  commission,  and  are  doing  noth- 
ing now  save  to  cry  out  against  him. 

But  the  most  interesting  tablet  of  all  is  a  very 
large  one,  consisting  of  several  compartments,  the  cen- 
tral of  which  contains  a  crowned  horseman,  doubt- 
less representing  King  Saphur,  and  before  him  a  Ro- 
man figure  kneeling,  with  the  hands  raised  and  clasp- 
ed as  a  suppliant.  This  is  supposed  to  commemorate 
the  victory  of  Saphur  over  the  Roman  array  at  Edes- 


390  REMAINS   OF  LOST  E]MPIRES. 

sa,  in  A.D.  260.  Here,  for  the  first  time  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Roman  Empire,  a  Roman  emperor  was 
taken  captive.  Valerian,  for  he  it  was  who  became 
the  unfortunate  prisoner,  received,  if  we  may  credit 
history,  but  little  consideration  at  the  hands  of  his 
captors.  He  is  said  to  have  been  carried  about  in  a 
cage  by  Shapur,  and  at  his  death  to  have  been  flayed, 
his  skin  stuffed,  and  used  as  a  foot-block  by  the  Per- 
sian king.  Gibbon,  however,  discredits  this  portion 
of  the  account. 

It  seemed  strange  to  us  to  find  here,  so  far  away 
from  civilization,  the  Roman  emperor  a  suppliant  be- 
fore the  monarch  of  a  sovereignty  now  the  weakest 
and  most  despicable  among  nations.  We  had  visited 
every  country  ever  traversed  by  the  legions  of  Rome, 
but  had  never  before  discovered  any  monument  save 
as  commemorative  of  the  valor  or  victory  of  Roman 
arms.  Yet  here,  among  the  defiles  of  Persia,  at  the 
most  distant  point  reached  by  her  hardy  warriors, 
near  the  spot  where  they  were  taught,  almost  for  the 
first  time,  the  meaning  of  real  defeat,  we  found  this, 
the  most  impressive  of  the  world's  monuments,  per- 
petuating the  memory  of  Roman  disaster  and  humili- 
ation. Alas,  how  degenerate  are  become  the  sons  of 
Iran ! 

We  found  it  a  long  ride  from  Shapur  to  the  town 
of  Kauzerun.  The  plain  was  in  places  marshy,  from 
the  overflow  of  neglected  watercourses,  and  covered 


CARAVAN  LIFE   IX  PERSIA.  291 

with  rank  weeds.  Some  portions  were  cultivated 
with  wheat  and  barley,  but  the  greater  part  consti- 
tuted pasture-land,  and  was  dotted  with  dark  clumps 
of  bushes.  Yet  no  life  animated  the  scene:  we  did 
not  see  a  single  herd  feeding  on  the  plain,  though  so 
near  what  was  once  the  second  city  of  the  province 
of  Fars.  Famine  had  swept  almost  all  life  from  the 
valley.  Although  abundant  rains  had  recalled  vege- 
tation, and  the  valley  smiled  with  verdure  and  flow- 
ers, still  there  reigned  over  the  scene  the  stillness  of 
death. 

Kauzerun  was,  before  the  famine,  a  city  of  about 
18,000  inhabitants;  we  found  scarcely  2000  people 
on  the  spot,  and  a  large  portion  of  this  number  was 
made  up  of  those  that  had  dragged  themselves  there 
from  neighboring  villages,  upon  learning  that  food 
was  being  gratuitously  distributed  by  the  English 
agent.  The  largest  portion  of  the  town  was  entirely 
deserted :  long  streets  were  without  an  occupant ;  the 
bazaars  were  empty  and  forsaken.  Within  the  first 
house  that  we  entered  we  found  the  air  tainted  with 
the  efiluvia  arising  from  a  dead  body  lying  in  one  of 
the  chambers.  Our  cicerone  led  us  through  the  city, 
just  as  our  guide  had  conducted  us  through  the  streets 
of  old  Pompeii,  showing  us  into  the  courts  of  the  finest 
buildings,  where  the  shrubs  and  flowers  were  bloom- 
ing beautiful  as  ever,  though  over  all  was  thrown 
a  Moom  of  desertion  and  death.     We  entered  the 


292  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIEES. 

mosques — forbidden  to  the  profane  feet  of  infidels — 
for  no  one  hindered  us.  In  one  we  found  a  single 
faithful  follower  of  Mohammed  performing  his  pros- 
trations and  murmuring  his  prayers.  However  dif 
ferent  our  own  faith,  profane  indeed  would  have  been 
our  footsteps  had  we  not  withdrawn  more  softly 
than  we  entered. 

The  scenes  in  the  still  inhabited  portions  of  the 
city  were  heart  •  sickening ;  emaciated  limbs  and 
shriveled  palms,  extended  for  charity,  spoke  louder 
than  the  feeble,  pleading  voices.  But  the  stalls ! 
A  few  dates,  some  half-grown  oranges,  and  mere  drib- 
lets of  miserable  wheat  and  barley  were  here  being 
carefully  weighed  and  doled  out  to  the  groups  of 
hungry,  skeleton-worn  women  and  children,  some 
without  a  rag  upon  their  bodies. 

Our  quarters  at  Kauzerun  were  within  the  tele- 
graph building,  w^here  we  were  hospitably  entertain- 
ed by  the  agent,  an  Armenian  Christian.  A  little 
incident  that  occurred  upon  the  evening  of  our  ar- 
rival led  us  to  infer  that  the  terrible  experiences  of 
the  famine  had  not  had  much  effect  in  leading  the 
people  to  mend  their  ways.  While  we  were  taking- 
tea  upon  the  roof  of  the  house,  just  after  night- 
ftiU,  a  clear  voice  broke  over  the  still  city,  pro- 
claiming the  loss  of  a  favorite  white  donkey,  and 
offering  a  considerable  reward  for  its  recovery. 
(This  is  the  usual  manner  of  advertising  lost  j)rop- 


CARAVAN  LIFE   IN  PERSIA.  293 

erty  in  Persia.)  The  servant  of  our  host  Lad  found 
the  strayed  animal,  and  had  it  confined.  "  Why  do 
you  not  call  and  tell  the  man  you  have  the  donkey  V 
we  very  naturally  inquired.  "I  am  going  to  wait 
till  he  doubles  that  reward,"  replied  the  rascal.  And 
he  did. 

Leaving  Kauzerun  a  little  after  midnight,  we  pro- 
ceeded up  the  j)lain  for  about  two  hours,  and  then 
commenced  the  ascent  of  the  most  difficult  pass  be- 
tween Bushire  and  Shiraz.  The  road  was  led  up  an 
almost  perpendicular  rock  by  numerous  windings, 
doublings,  and  zigzags,  defended  by  parapets.  This 
passage  has  been  called  the  "  Simplon  of  Persia ;"  but 
the  less  euphonious  native  name  is  Kotuli  Dokhter, 
or  "  Pass  of  the  Girl."  From  the  summit  a  gentle 
descent  brought  us  to  the  charming  little  vale  of 
Deshti  Burr.  We  had  left  behind  us  the  palms  and 
other  representatives  of  a  tropical  climate,  and  were 
now  in  the  colder  region  of  oaks  and  kindred  trees. 
Justice  has  never  been  done  to  Persian  scenery. 
Right  on  this  spot  a  certain  traveler,  fresh  from  the 
fair  isles  of  India,  exclaims,  "  How  different  from 
green,  beautiful  Ceylon !"  We  can  forgive  him,  for 
he  saw  the  valley  in  the  winter,  when  the  leaves 
had  fallen  and  the  flowers  were  gone.  We  have 
had  many  glimpses  of  sequestered  mountain  valleys, 
disclosing  their  beauty  all  unexpectedly  through  the 
opening  hills,  or  spreading  out  their  loveliness  from 


294  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

some  wild  pass ;  but  we  have  seen  few  really  prettier 
and  quieter  vales  than  that  of  the  Deshti  Bnrr,'  It 
appeared  about  eight  or  ten  miles  in  length,  and  two 
or  thi'ee  in  breadth,  and  was  covered  with  a  forest 
of  oaks ;  not  set  thick  together,  but  scattered  sj)orad- 
ically  over  the  plain,  so  as  to  favor  a  good  growth  of 
grass  beneath  them.  A  species  of  poppy,  with  large 
crimson  flowers,  covered  the  ground  in  such  profu- 
sion that  in  j^laces  the  green  grass  was  entirely  hid- 
den and  the  earth  overspread  with  unbroken  sheets 
of  gay  color.  The  oaks  grew  more  stunted  as  they 
were  lifted  higher  and  higher  on  the  slo23es  of  the 
bordering  hills,  and  at  length,  failing  entirely,  left 
the  summits  bare  and  rocky — just  bold  and  rugged 
enough  to  give  a  touch  of  wildness  to  the  scene. 
Snow  lay  in  heavy  drifts  along  the  tops  of  the 
mountains,  suggesting  Alpine  grandeur.  Some  dis- 
tance from  the  point  where  we  entered  the  vallej^ 
were  two  little  villages,  Abduee  and  Kalluneh, 
which  before  the  famine  contained  two  hundred 
families;  while  now,  we  were  told,  not  more  than 
twenty  remained.  We  did  not  visit  them,  but  en- 
camped beneath  the  trees,  on  a  sj^ot  as  pretty  as  an 
English  lawn. 

Night  had  barely  fallen  before  we  broke  camp 
and  resumed  our  journey;  for  although  at  the  ele- 
vation we  had  gained  the  days  were  considerably 
cooler  than  on  the  Germsir,  still  it  was  more  pleas- 


CARAVAN  LIFE  IN  PERSIA.  295 

ant  to  climb  tlie  passes  during  the  coolness  of  the 
night  than  while  the  sun  was  beating  upon  them. 
After  one  hour's  ride  through  the  Vale  of  Oaks  we 
commenced  the  Ions;  and  toilsome  ascent  of  the 
Kotuli  Peerazen,  or  "  Pass  of  the  Old  Woman,"  which 
it  took  us  over  two  hours  to  clear.  Quite  a  heavy 
forest  of  oak  and  other  deciduous  trees  clothed  the 
surroundino;  hills. 

After  turning  the  summit  we  made  a  rugged  de- 
scent to  the  Deshti  Arjun,  or  "Plain  of  the  Wild 
Almonds,"  a  small  vale  covered  with  verdure;  but, 
unlike  the  one  we  had  left,  destitute  of  trees.  The 
lower  slopes  of  the  surrounding  hills  were  covered 
with  a  thin  forest  of  dwarf  oak,  while  the  highest 
peaks  were  mantled  with  snow.  The  morning  air 
■was  so  chilling  that  our  ride  across  the  plain  was, 
notwithstanding  our  thick  wrappings,  an  extremely 
uncomfortable  one. 

The  mountain  that  overhung  the  valley  on  our 
right  presented  a  most  interesting  geological  phe- 
nomenon. It  consisted  of  a  lofty  wall  of  rock,  rising, 
we  estimated,  one  thousand  feet  above  the  valley, 
and  composed  throughout  of  nearly  horizontal  strata 
of  limestone  and  marble,  the  latter  appearing  toward 
the  base  of  the  precipice.  The  upper  portion  of  the 
wall  was  quite  worn  by  time,  and  the  debris  had 
formed  a  considerable  talus ;  but  the  lower  portion 
of  the  face  of  the  precipice  was  regular,  yet  deeply 


296  EEMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

grooved  and  striated,  with  the  portion  immediately 
above  the  talus  polished  like  a  glacier-worn  surface. 
The  manner  in  which  this  appearance  had  been  given 
to  the  rock  admitted  of  no  doubt :  it  was  by  a  ver- 
tical faulting,  or  sliding.  In  other  w^ords,  a  profound 
fracture  occurring  in  the  strata,  either  the  bottom  of 
the  valley  had  slipped  down,  or  the  strata  now  form- 
ing the  wall  lifted  up ;  in  either  case,  the  faces  of  the 
fracture  being  polished  as  they  ground  against  each 
other  during  the  sliding  movement. 

At  the  northern  end  of  the  valley  w^e  found  a 
wretched  and  almost  deserted  village,  where  our 
caravan  halted  for  the  day.  The  only  inviting  spot 
about  it  w^as  a  neighboring  spring,  which  issued  in  a 
large  stream  from  the  foot  of  the  cliff  that  overhung 
the  village.  Here  a  pretty  group  of  oaks,  willows, 
and  venerable  chenar  trees  shaded  a  wely  which 
marked  the  site  of  a  Shiah  miracle.  Once  upon  a 
time,  a  Jew,  w^eary  and  dusty  from  a  long  march, 
stopped  at  this  sj^ot  to  rest  and  to  bathe.  While 
enjoying  his  bath  a  lion  appeared  upon  the  scene, 
and  the  poor  Jew  became  helpless  through  terror. 
At  this  crisis  Ali,  the  son-in-law  of  Mohammed,  to 
whom  the  Persians  ascribe  miraculous  j^owers,  sud- 
denly appeared  as  a  veiled  horseman,  and,  slay- 
ing the  lion,  vanished  as  mysteriously  and  suddenly 
as  he  had  appeared.  Witliin  the  wely  we  w^ere 
shown  several  deep  indentations  in  the  rock,  which 


CARAVAN  LIFE  IN  PERSIA.  997 

the  fakir  told  us  were  the  impriuts  of  the  horse's 
hoofs. 

The  wely  was  surrounded  by  tombs,  many  of 
which  were  marked  by  rudely  carved  stone  figures, 
intended  to  represent  lions,  bears,  or  wild  boars,  all 
of  which  abound  in  the  valley.  The  lions  especially 
are  the  great  terror  of  muleteers,  as  the}^  frequently 
attack  horses  or  mules  while  pasturing  on  the  plain. 
Late  in  the  evening  following  our  arrival  in  the  val- 
ley, a  boy  w^ho  had  been  out  tending  the  animals  of 
the  caravan,  which  were  grazing  a  short  distance 
from  the  village,  broke  into  our  room  in  a  terrible 
fright,  to  inform  us  that  a  lion  had  just  killed  and 
carried  off  one  of  the  mules.  We  were  curious  to 
ascertain  some  particulars  resj^ecting  the  animal ; 
but  upon  questioning  the  boy  we  found  that  he  was 
hardly  in  a  frame  of  mind  for  giving  statements  with 
scientific  accuracy.  Upon  asking  him  the  size  of  the 
beast,  he  turned  toward  the  door,  a  large  opening 
six  feet  high,  and  replied  between  his  terrified  sobs, 
^vith  his  hair  still  all  on  end,  "  He  couldn't  get  in 
that  door." 

From  the  valley  of  Deshti  Arjun  an  uninviting 
ride  of  five  hours,  through  a  rocky  country,  sparsely 
clothed  with  dwarf  oak  and  other  trees,  brought  us 
to  Khan  Zenion,  the  best  caravansary  on  the  route 
between  Bushire  and  Shiraz.  Just  before  reaching 
this  station  our  caravan  was  thrown  into  the  greatest 


298  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

excitement  by  the  appearance  in  the  distance  of  a 
party  of  twenty  or  thirty  banditti.  The  animals  had 
been  allowed  to  straggle  along  till  the  van  and  rear 
of  our  caravan  were  a  mile  aj^art ;  but  upon  the  first 
alarm  the  straggling  line  was  hastily  closed  up,  the 
animals,  women,  and  children  being  crowded  togeth- 
er, while  the  muleteers  and  those  pilgrims  who  were 
armed,  with  the  soldiers  of  the  escort  that  had  ac- 
companied us  from  Deshti  Burr,  covered  the  threat- 
ened flank.  Seeing  that  we  were  so  well  prepared 
to  receive  them,  the  bandits  did  not  venture  upon 
an  attack,  but  hovered  at  a  distance,  while  our  car- 
avan hurried  on  and  within  the  walls  of  the  cara- 
vansary. 

We  left  Khan  Zenion  the  following  morning  at 
an  early  hour,  and  followed  a  road  which  all  day  led 
us  through  a  sterile,  rocky  country;  but  which  at 
last,  through  the  opening,  hills,  gave  us  a  glimpse  of 
the  plain  of  Shiraz,  surrounded  by  mountains,  bald 
and  sunburnt  and  sterile  as  the  Yirgilian  Ithaca. 
Across  the  plain  gleamed  two  glazed  domes,  rising 
fron\  amid  the  dark  foliage  of  the  gardens  of  Shiraz. 
While  yet  a  long  way  from  the  city  we  were  met  by 
many  of  the  friends  of  the  pilgrims,  who  had  come 
out  to  welcome  them  home.  Our  pilgrims  dis- 
mounted, and  men  and  women  hugged  and  kissed 
one  another  with  true  Oriental  fervor.  We  confess 
we  never  felt  more  homesick  than  while  this  thino- 


1 


I 


CARAVAN  LIFE  IN  PERSIA.  299 

was  going  on.  Upon  arrival  at  the  city  this  feeling 
was,  however,  tpickly  dissipated  by  our  kind  re- 
ception at  the  British  Residency;  where  we  met 
another  traveler  in  the  person  of  an  English  mis- 
sionary, the  Rev.  Mr.  Gordon.  The  warm,  hearty 
greeting  we  received  left  us  but  little  occasion  to 
feel  jealous  of  the  pilgrims. 


300  REMAINS  OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 


CHAPTER  XL 

SHI  E  A  Z. 

The  Valley  of  Sliiraz.— Distaut  View  of  the  City.— Streets  and  Bazaars. 
—Interior  of  the  Dwellings.— Public  Buildings.— Population.— Gar- 
dens of  Shiraz.— Baghi  Now.— Jehan  Nema.— Baghi  Takht.— The 
Tomlj  of  Hafiz.— His  Odes.— Tomb  of  Saadi.— Effects  of  the  Famine 
at  Shiraz.— The  Fundamental  Cause  of  Asiatic  Wretchedness.— The 
Oriental  Doctrine  of  Isolation.— Lessons  of  the  Famine. 

Shiraz  is  situated  upon  an  elevated  plateau,  lifted 
nearly  four  thousand  feet  above  the  sea-level.  The 
portion  of  this  table-land  that  comprises  the  valley 
of  Shiraz  is  a  plain  about  twenty-five  miles  in  length 
and  ten  in  breadth,  shut  in  by  rocky,  barren  hills,  the 
highest  peaks  of  which  are  tipped  with  snow  till  the 
summer  is  far  advanced :  during  the  mouths  of  Jan- 
uary and  February  the  snow-line  is  pushed  down 
to  the  plain ;  in  the  winter  of  1871-2  snow  fell  at 
Shiraz  to  the  depth  of  two  feet.  The  Shiraz  valley 
is  naturally  one  of  the  most  fertile  in  Persia,  and  in 
former  times  was  covered  with  a  sea  of  verdure ;  but 
under  neglect  the  larger  portion  of  the  plain  has  be- 
come arid  and  verdureless,  and  lies  in  fit  keeping 
with  the  sunburnt  hills  that  environ  it. 

The  city  of  Shiraz  lies  cm  the  northern  edge  of  the 


SHIRAZ.  301 

plaiD,  jnst  at  the  foot  of  the  hills.  Directly  back  of 
the  town  is  a  narrow  pass  or  defile,  which  aifords 
a  passage  through  these  hills  for  the  Ispahan  road. 
Viewed  from  this  gorge  the  city  presents  a  most 
beautiful  and  striking  appearance,  rivaling  Damas- 
cus, as  seen  from  the  overhanging  hills  of  Anti-Lib- 
anus,  in  the  queenly  dignity  and  beauty  of  its  sit- 
uation and  environs.  In  order  to  secure  the  best 
effect,  one  must  enter  the  defile  far  enough  so  that 
its  lofty,  abruj^t  walls  may  cut  off  the  greater  portion 
of  the  plain,  and  form  a  narrow  vista  through  which 
the  eye  may  range  and  fall  upon  the  city  and  its  gar- 
dens. The  scenic  effect  is  wonderful:  you  seem  to 
have  before  you  a  work  of  art.  So  perfect  is  the 
illusion,  you  can  hardly  believe  that  the  bit  of  land- 
scape you  are  looking  upon  is  not  a  painting.  The 
tall  walls  of  the  pass  form  the  frame ;  and  the  city, 
adorned  by  the  glazed  domes  of  its  mosques,  and 
buried  in  the  foliage  of  its  beautiful  gardens,  is  the 
faultless  picture. 

But,  as  in  the  case  of  all  Eastern  cities,  it  is  dis- 
tance that  lends  enchantment  to  the  view.  If  we 
leave  the  defile  and  enter  the  city,  our  vision  of 
beauty  is  quickly  and  rudely  dispelled.  Once  with- 
in the  limits  of  the  town  we  find  nothing  save  mis- 
erable mud  walls,  rags  and  wretchedness,  heaj^s  of 
filth  and  rubbish — every  where  only  that  which  ob- 
trudes offensively  upon  every  sense.     The  streets  are 


302  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

narrow,  irregular,  gloom}^,  dirty  lanes;  and  tlie  ba- 
zaars, witli  one  or  two  exceptions,  are  equally  unin- 
viting. Through  all  these  hatefully  vile  thorough- 
fares flows  a  constant  stream  of  Asiatic  life. 

It  is  a  relief  to  escape  from  the  streets  to  some 
pleasant  courtyard;  for  here,  as  every  where  else 
throughout  the  East,  the  interior  of  the  dwellings 
frequently  exhibit  more  taste  and  beauty,  and  offer 
more  inviting  and  commodious  apartments,  than  the 
exterior  promises.  We  make  the  exterior  of  our 
homes  attractive,  and  indicative  of  the  wealth  and 
comfort  within ;  but  an  Oriental's  dwelling  partakes 
throughout  of  the  harem's  exclusiveness,  and  displays 
to  the  profane  world  only  a  blank,  uninteresting  wall 
of  brick  and  mud.  Our  home  while  in  Shiraz  was  at 
the  residence  of  the  British  agent,  a  native  of  the  city. 
This  dwelling  was  a  fair  representation  of  the  bet- 
ter class  of  buildings  in  Shiraz.  It  encompassed  two 
courts ;  but  within  the  sacred  j)recincts  of  the  innermost 
we  were  never  permitted  to  enter.  The  outer  court 
was  a  large  square  of  over  two  hundred  feet,  shaded 
by  tall  chenar-trees,  and  ornamented  with  flowers  and 
blooming  shrubs.  At  one  extremity  was  a  large 
tank,  from  which  a  constant  stream  of  water  flowed 
through  the  grounds.  Our  apartments,  which  opened 
upon  the  court,  were  quite  commodious,  and  fancifully 
decorated  with  paintings  of  flowers,  foliage,  and  birds, 
that  completely  covered  both  walls  and  ceiling. 


SHIRAZ.  303 

The  public  buildings  of  Shiraz  are  neither  nu- 
merous nor  interesting.  There  are  but  two  domed 
mosques  that  attract  particular  attention.  These 
are  covered  with  glazed  tiles,  and  are  very  conspic- 
uous objects  in  any  view  of  the  town.  The  Vakeel 
Bazaar  is  the  most  substantial  structure  in  the  city. 
It  at  least  equals  any  thing  of  which  Damascus, 
Alej^po,  or  Bagdad  can  boast.  It  is  a  lofty,  vaulted 
arcade,  constructed  in  the  form  of  a  Maltese  cross, 
each  arm  of  which  is  one  eio-hth  of  a  mile  in  length. 
The  royal  summer-houses  we  shall  have  occasion  to 
allude  to  while  speaking  of  the  gardens  of  the  city. 
The  population  of  Shiraz  can  not  be  far  from  35,000, 
of  which  number  about  5000  are  Jews.  The  status 
of  the  poor  Jew  in  Shiraz  is  very  different  from  what 
it  is  in  Bagdad.  In  the  latter  city  they  possess  great 
influence,  constituting  the  most  honored  and  intelli- 
gent class  of  the  heterogeneous  population;  in  the 
Persian  city  they  are  the  object  of  envy,  insult,  and 
abuse,  being  most  grievously  oppressed  by  the  gov- 
ernment, and  contemned  and  persecuted  by  other 
sects. 

The  gardens  of  Shiraz  have  obtained  a  w^orld-wide 
celebrity.  Some  of  these  paradises  were  created  by 
the  sovereigns  of  Persia  when  the  city  was  the  capital 
of  the  empire ;  others  are  the  work  of  various  gov- 
ernors of  Shiraz.     The  most  of  them  have  fallen  into 

neglect,  and  the  once  pleasant  palaces  and  kiosks,  or 

X 


304  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES.  1 

summer-lionses,  have  become  lodging-places  for  waii- 
clering  dervises.  They  are  still  royal  property ;  and 
although  the  grounds  are  overrun  with  wilduess,  and 
the  buildings  decayed  and  blackened  with  smoke, 
they  yet  retain  somewhat  of  that  former  beauty 
which  inspired  such  rapturous  praises  from  native 
bards  and  European  visitors. 

The  most  beautiful  of  these  gardens,  in  our  estima- 
tion, is  the  Baghi  Now,  which  lies  near  the  Ispahan 
road,  and  just  at  the  opening  of  the  defile  to  which 
allusion  has  been  made.  It  was  laid  out  and  its 
buildings  constructed  half  a  century  ago  by  a  son  of 
Fat'h  Ali  Shah.  One  of  its  most  attractive  features 
is  the  tall,  dark  cones  of  its  cypresses,  rising  amid 
and  contrasting  with  the  lighter  foliage  of  the  garden. 
The  orange-trees,  loading  the  air  with  the  fragrance 
of  their  blossoms ;  the  flowering  roses,  forming  great 
domes  of  white  and  pink ;  the  grassy  plats,  strewn 
all  over  with  flowers,  and  pretty  in  spite  of  neglect ; 
the  wonderfully  varied  notes  of  the  philomel,  poured 
from  the  deep  foliage  of  the  cypress — these  cause 
one  to  forget  the  ugly  desert  outside,  and  believe 
once  more  in  the  land  of  "roses,  poets,  and  night- 
ingales." 

The  Baghi  Now  contains  three  buildings,  and  is 
abundantly  supplied  with  tanks  and  streams  of  wa- 
ter. One  of  the  buildings  stands  at  the  entrance  to 
the  grounds,  another  in  the  centre  of  the  garden,  and 


SHIRAZ.  305 

the  third  at  the  end  opposite  the  gate.  The  central 
structure,  which  is  the  largest  and  finest,  contains  a 
spacious  talar — a  sort  of  chamber  or  hall,  open  to  the 
breezes  of  heaven — embellished  with  a  number  of 
Persian  2:)aintings,  one  of  which  seems  to  be  commem- 
orative of  the  reception  of  an  European  embassy. 
Other  paintings  discourse  of  love  and  astronomy, 
through  representations  of  amours  and  zodiacal  fig- 
ures. Persian  mimetic  art  displays  but  little  genius. 
The  figures  are  stiflf  and  absurdly  awkward,  with  a 
wonderful  family  resemblance ;  the  perspective  would 
do  honor  to  a  Japanese  artist. 

Near  the  Baghi  Now  is  the  Jehan  Nema  garden, 
constructed  by  the  Persian  sovereign  Kureen  Khan, 
who  embellished  the  city  of  Shiraz  with  many  of 
its  best  edifices.  The  grounds  are  well  filled  with 
trees  and  shrubs,  and  were  formerly  ornamented  with 
beautiful  summer-houses;  but  these  buildings,  many 
of  the  chambers  of  which  still  exhibit  traces  of  rich 
ornamentation,  are  fast  falling  into  decay. 

The  Baghi  Takht,  or  palace  garden,  is  situated 
about  a  mile  northwest  of  the  city,  just  at  the  base 
of  the  hill.  The  palace  which  the  garden  contains 
was  erected  by  Fat'h  Ali,  a  former  governor  of  Shi- 
raz. The  sj^ace  inclosed  by  the  walls  embraces  about 
one  hundred  acres,  and  displays  a  great  variety  of 
fruit  and  ornamental  trees  and  flowering  shrubs. 
A  finely  shaded   walk  leads  through  the   grounds 


306  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

from  the  entrance  to  the  palace,  which  occu23ies  an  el- 
evated site,  with  the  ground  in  front  breaking  down 
to  the  level  of  the  garden  in  wooded  terraces,  which 
prettily  overhang  the  large  reservoir  at  the  foot  of 
the  descent.  The  palace,  wdiich  surmounts  the  high- 
est terrace,  is  a  fine  building,  chastely  ornamented, 
and,  being  still  used  as  a  summer  residence,  is  kept 
in  a  better  state  of  repair  than  most  of  the  buildings 
of  the  other  gardens.  Its  balconies  afford  a  magnifi- 
cent view  of  Shiraz  and  the  environing  plain. 

About  half  a  mile  beyond  the  walls  of  the  town, 
upon  the  north,  lies  the  garden  known  as  the  Hafi- 
zeeya,  w^hich  contains  the  tomb  of  the  famous  Persian 
bard  Haiiz.  The  grounds  are  a  little  more  than  an 
acre  in  extent,  and  are  divided  by  a  kiosk,  or  summer- 
house,  into  two  ]3arts,  one  of  which  is  embellished 
with  trees  and  shrubbery,  while  the  other  is  a  par- 
tially shaded  cemetery.  In  this  latter  portion,  amid 
a  large  number  of  Mohammedan  tombs,  lies  a  beauti- 
fully polished  alabaster  slab,  eight  feet  in  length  and 
two  in  thickness,  which  marks  the  grave  of  the  most 
popular  poet  Persia  has  ever  produced.  The  block 
is  tastefully  inscribed  with  selections  from  the  odes 
of  the  poet. 

Ilafiz,  or  Hafiz-Mohammed-Shems-eddin,  as  written 
by  the  Persians,  was  a  native  of  Shiraz,  where  he 
died  toward  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century. 
"  The  veneration,"  says  Binning,  a  translator  and  ad- 


SHIRAZ.  307 

mirer  of  tlie  odes  of  Hafiz,  "  whicli  the  Persians  en- 
tertain for  this  prince  of  lyric  poets  is  extreme ;  and 
•lie  is  regarded  by  them  as  little,  if  at  all,  inferior  to 
an  inspired  mortal.  His  odes  are  considered,  and  I 
believe  justly  so,  unrivaled  and  incomparable."  The 
odes  of  Hafiz  are  intensely  Anacreonic,  being  always 
redolent  of  love  and  wme.  To  relieve  the  poet  of 
the  charge  of  sensuousness  and  immorality,  the  Sufis, 
a  sect  who  hold  the  bard  in  divine  veneration,  insist 
that  the  "  wine,  roses,  nightingales,  music,  love,  and 
intoxication,"  amid  which  the  inspired  bard  loves  to 
revel,  are  to  be  taken  in  a  spiritual  or  allegorical 
sense. 

AYithin  the  kiosk  of  the  garden  is  kept  a  volume 
of  Hafiz's  odes,  some  six  hundred  in  number,  which 
after  the  poet's  death  w^ere  collected  and  preserved 
in  numerous  manuscript  copies.  The  copy  at  the 
tomb  is  especially  venerated;  and  as  the  Persians 
have  a  custom  of  drawing  omens  from  the  Koran  and 
other  highly  esteemed  writings,  this  volume  is  often 
resorted  to  for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  /«/,  or  lot, 
whereby  the  seeker  may  know  the  likely  issue  of  any 
new  enterprise  he  may  be  proposing.  These  omens 
are  taken  by  opening  the  book  at  random ;  the  ode 
that  chance  thus  casts  the  inquirer  upon  contains  the 
answer  soudit.  Of  course  there  is  often  a  worse 
than  Delphic  obscurity  or  ambiguity  in  these  lyric 
oracles ;  but  the  Persians  have  a  orenius  for  all  sorts 


308  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

of  mysteries  and  mysticisms,  and  amid  the  mass  of - 
Anacreonic  metaphors  always  succeed  in  discovering 
some  wonderfully  applicable  oracular  revelations  to 
aid  them  in  their  indecision  and  perplexity.  Collu- 
sion and  trickery  are,  of  course,  no  more  strangers  to 
this  Persian  oracle  than  they  were  to  the  classic  Del- 
phic or  Delian.  It  is  related  that  the  famous  Nadir 
Shah,  in  the  midst  of  his  successes,  and  when  ])lan- 
ning  extended  conquests,  knowing  the  beneficial  ef 
feet  of  an  auspicious  omen  upon  his  su2:>erstitious  fol- 
lowers, drew  a  lot  here  which  read  as  follows :  "  It  is 
befitting  that  thou  shouldst  exact  duty  from  all  the 
great  ones  of  this  world ;  for  in  truth  thou  art  the 
crown  and  paragon  of  all  nobility.  Cathay  and  Tar- 
tary  tremble  at  the  glance  of  thy  vivid  eyes;  China 
and  India  must  pay  tribute  to  thy  curled  locks." 

A  mile  or  more  beyond  the  tomb  of  Hafiz,  lying- 
in  the  opening  of  a  little  valley,  among  sterile  hills, 
is  the  garden  of  Saadiya,  containing  the  tomb  of  the 
poet  Saadi,  who,  like  Hafiz,  was  a  native  of  Shiraz, 
being  born  in  that  city  A.D.  1174.  The  grounds 
are  inclosed  with  a  hio-h  wall,  and  contain  a  lai'sre 
Saracenic  building,  in  an  open  chamber  of  which  is 
found  the  marble  block  that  marks  the  poet's  grave. 
The  garden  is  beautifully  shaded  with  pines,  cy- 
presses, and  mulberry-trees ;  but  the  grounds  are  un- 
kept,  and  tell  of  neglect  and  forgetfulness, 

Saadi's  life  was  that  of  a  wandering  dervis.     He 


SHIRAZ.  309 

is  said  to  have  made  fourteen  pilgrimages  to  Mecca. 
He  certainly  bad  time  enough  to  do  so,  if  we  may 
believe  his  biographers,  who  extend  his  life  to  one 
hundred  and  sixteen  years.  Saadi  wrote  both  prose 
and  verse;  and  by  some  his  writings  are  considered 
superior  to  those  of  Hafiz.  The  best  known  and 
most  popular  of  his  works  is  the  "  Gulistan,"  or  Rose 
Garden,  which  is  divided  into  eight  chapters,  in  order 
that,  as  Saadi  says,  it  might  resemble  Paradise  in 
having  eight  gates.  In  some  of  these  chapters  the 
writer  discourses  on  such  matters  as  the  morals  of 
kings,  the  excellence  of  contentment,  the  advan- 
tages of  silence,  love  and  youth,  and  the  Ciceronic 
subject  of  imbecility  and  old  age. 

Emerson,  in  a  brief  introductory  note  to  Gladwin's 
translation  of  the  "  Gulistan,"  thus  characteristically 
sums  it  up :  "  Medshun  and  Leila,  rose  and  night- 
ingale, parrots  and  tulips;  mosques  and  dervises; 
desert,  caravan,  and  robbers;  peeps  at  the  harem; 
bags  of  gold  dinars ;  slaves,  horses,  houses,  camels,  sa- 
bres, shawls,  pearls,  amber,  cohol,  and  henna ;  insane 
compliments  to  the  Sultan,  borrowed  from  the  lan- 
guage of  prayer;  Hebrew  and  Gueber  legends  molt- 
en into  Arabesque — 'tis  a  short  inventory  of  topics 
and  tropes  which  incessantly  return  in  Persian  po- 
etry." But,  as  he  observes,  genius  like  Nature  may 
play  her  game  with  few  pieces.  One  of  the  most  re- 
markable of  the  "  insane  "  superlatives  which  Emer- 


310  REMAINS    OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

son  alludes  to  is  perhaps  the  following — we  will  not 
undertake  to  say  from  what  language  it  may  be  bor- 
rowed: the  poet  in  complimenting  the  Shah  says, 
"The  incurvated  back  of  the  sky  became  straight 
with  joy  at  thy  birth." 

In  the  chapter  on  the  advantages  of  taciturnity  we 
find  the  following  tale,  w^hich  we  give  as  a  double  il- 
lustration of  Saadi's  writings  and  Wendell  Phillips's 
lecture  on  the  "  Lost  Arts,"  wherein  he  alludes  to 
the  originality  of  Irish  bulls:  "A  certain  poet  wxnt 
to  the  chief  of  a  gang  of  robbers,  and  recited  verses 
in  his  praise.  He  ordered  him  to  be  stripped  of  his 
clothes,  and  be  expelled  the  village.  The  dogs  at- 
tacking him,  he  wanted  to  take  up  some  stones,  but 
they  were  frozen  to  the  ground.  Thus  distressed,  he 
said :  '  What  a  vile  set  of  men  are  these,  who  let  loose 
their  doo;s  and  fasten  their  stones.'  "* 

*  In  this  connection,  the  following  respecting  Persian  art  and  knowl- 
edge of  certain  sciences  which  we  assume  to  be  especially  modern,  will 
be  of  interest  to  some  of  our  readers.  Speaking  of  the  celebrated  Mur- 
phine  Vase,  Gladwin,  after  quoting  Wedgwood  to  the  effect  that  its 
composition  imi^lied  a  knowledge  of  chemistry  of  which  we  have  not 
yet  discovei'ed  the  elements,  says:  "Indeed,  our  boasted  chemical  im- 
provements can  neither  produce  the  material  of  those  sculptured  and 
colored  vases,  cups,  gems,  and  rings  now  collected  by  our  curious  trav- 
elers in  Persia,  nor  supply  any  instrument  of  a  sufficiently  hard  temper 
to  cut  and  carve  them."  In  Saadi's  "  Bustan  "  (viii.,  3)  occurs  this  re- 
markable language  respecting  tlic  circulation  of  the  blood  in  the  hu- 
man body  :  "  The  venal  system  of  thy  body,  O  well-disposed  man  !  is  a 
meadow,  through  which  are  flowing  three  hundred  and  sixty  rivulets." 
Was  Harvey,  then,  the  first  discoverer  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood  ? 
Again,  npon  respiration  and  digestion  Saadi  thus  discourses:  "Were 
not  the  fresh  air  to  pass  by  respiration  into  the  lungs,  the  intestine 


SHIRAZ.  311 

There  are  other  gardens  besides  the  above  about 
Shiraz;  but  as  those  we  have  visited  are  the  finest, 
they  do  not  call  for  particular  description.  The  win- 
ters of  Shiraz  are  too  severe  for  tropical  trees  and 
plants,  so  that  all  these  gardens  lack  some  of  the  at- 
tractions of  the  royal  paradises  of  India ;  yet,  though 
there  be  an  absence  of  strangeness  of  pattern  and 
luxuriance  of  growth,  there  is  a  quiet  beauty  and 
chasteness  in  their  less  extravagant  display  of  foliage 
which  more  than  compensates,  perhaps,  for  this  loss 
of  tropical  richness  and  exuberance. 

From  the  gardens  of  Shiraz  we  turn  to  other  mat- 
ters less  pleasing.  At  the  time  of  our  visit  to  the 
city  there  were,  it  was  estimated,  at  least  five  thou- 
sand famishing  mendicants  wandering  in  the  streets 
or  lying  in  the  bazaars,  which  were  little  better  than 
the  wards  of  a  lazaretto.  The  gates  of  the  city  were 
so  infested  with  crowds  of  half-naked  wretches  that 
it  was  with  the  greatest  difiiculty  that  we  were  en- 
abled, at  times,  to  eftect  a  passage.  "Wherever  we 
went  we  were  beset  with  rac-s  and  wretchedness. 
Indeed,  almost  the  entire  population  seemed  clothed 
in  rags  and  transformed  into  a  community  of  beg- 
gars. 

Various  estimates  have  been  made  as  to  the  num- 

lieat  would  throw  the  body  into  a  ferment ;  and  did  not  the  pot  of  the 
stomach  duly  concoct  food,  the  fair  and  pkimp  form  of  the  body  would 
get  shrunk  and  withered." — "  Bustau,"  viii.,  14,  as  quoted  by  Gladwin 
in  his. Introduction  to  "  Gulistan."    ' 


312  KEMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

ber  of  victims  of  the  great  Persian  famine:  some 
have  placed  the  number  as  high  as  two  millions,  or 
about  one  third  of  the  entire  population  of  the  coun- 
try; others  have  thought  that  100,000  would  be  a 
large  estimate.  Respecting  this  discrepancy,  we  must 
observe  that  in  such  a  country  as  Persia  it  is  utterly 
impossible  to  obtain  any  satisfactory  approximation 
even  to  the  number  of  victims  of  such  a  calamity, 
for  it  is  the  policy  of  the  government  to  vitiate  or 
suppress  the  facts.  But  it  is  not  alone  a  frightful 
decimation  of  population  that  represents  the  disas- 
trous results  of  the  famine :  the  country  is  impover- 
ished, society  disorganized,  and  industry  prostrated, 
so  that  decades  will  scarcely  suffice  for  even  a  very 
partial  recovery,  for  Persia's  recuperative  forces  are 
any  thing  but  strong  and  vigorous. 

Such  a  disaster  as  the  Persian  famine  is  by  no 
means  an  unusual  thing  in  Asiatic  history.  Since 
the  time  that  the  children  of  Israel  went  down  into 
Egypt  to  buy  corn,  periods  of  scarcity  and  famine 
have  prevailed  throughout  the  countries  of  the  East. 
Incalculable  suffering  has  always  been  the  inevitable 
attendant  of  these  times  of  want,  when  Nature  has 
refused  to  supply  the  first  needs  of  her  children. 
Now,  of  all  the  scourges  to  which  humanity  is  liable, 
this  is  the  most  completely  under  man's  control.  But 
the  idea  of  intelligent  prevention  of  these  recurring 
disasters  has  scarcely  dawned  upon  the  Asiatic  mind. 


SHIRAZ.  313 

In  order  to  gain  a  proper  comprehension  of  tliis  sub- 
ject, we  must  revert  to  the  first  instincts  of  Oriental 
society.     Professor  Sumner,  in  his  scale  of  subordina- 
tion and  precedency  of  the  ends  of  man  as  a  physical 
being,  places  sustenance  prior  to  reproduction,  and 
intimates  that  a  reversion  of  this  order  will  surely 
be  punished  by  Nature.     Our  observation  through- 
out the  East  impressed  upon  us  the  conviction  that 
the  underlying  cause  of  the  largest  portion  of  the 
individual  sufferins:  and  wretchedness  there  so  uni- 
versal  results  from   a  violation   of  this   heaven-ap- 
pointed order.     It  is  alike  the  dictate  of  prudence 
and  the  peremptory  injunction  of  enlightened  reason 
that  the  family  relation  shall  not  be  entered  into  till 
reasonable  provision  shall  have  been  made  by  the 
parties  assuming  these  relations  to  meet  the  natural 
wants   of  the  family  organization.     In  enlightened 
societies  such  considerations  act  as  strong  restraints 
upon  those  contemplating  matrimonial  alliances;  in- 
deed, they  are  often  allowed  to  exercise  an  undue 
influence.     But  in  the  East  none  of  these  restraints 
to  marriage  have   any  force  whatever.     At  a  most 
precocious   age  the  family  relation  is   assumed  by 
those  who  are  without  a  thought  for  the  future,  and. 
without  any  means  possessory,  or  reasonably  antici- 
patory, for  properly  nourishing,  clothing,  and  shelter- 
ing those  that  may  come  to  be  dependent  upon  their 
parental  care.     The  inevitable  result  is  squalid  pov- 


314  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

erty,  wretchedness,  and  misery.  This  great  evil  will 
not  cease  till  there  be  wrought  a  fundamental  change 
in  Asiatic  society.  Christianity  is  slowly  introducing 
this  change,  and  the  beneficent  results  of  the  new 
order  of  things  is  already  observable  in  native  Chris- 
tian families  and  communities.  The  assuming  of 
conjugal  relations  at  the  customary  precocious  age  is 
discouraged,  if  not  strictly  prohibited ;  and  new  con- 
ceptions respecting  parental  obligations  are  being 
gradually  instilled.  In  the  missionary  work,  which 
goes  to  the  very  fundamentals  of  all  social  organiza- 
tions, we  assert  lies  the  only  hope  for  the  uplifting 
and  regeneration  of  Eastern  society. 

Now  from  the  family  let  us  broaden  our  thoughts 
and  rise  to  the  nation,  and  we  shall  find  that  it  is  the 
gross  violation  of  the  correlative  laws  of  population 
and  sustenance,  as  has  been  pointed  out  by  the  great 
political  economist  Malthus,  which  is  the  deep-hid- 
den, indirect  cause  of  all  such  calamities  as  that 
which  has  been  felt  so  sorely  by  Persia.  Every  coun- 
try is  liable  to  years  of  great  scarcity ;  and  it  is  evi- 
dent that,  at  such  times,  there  must  be  wide-spread 
suft'ei'ing  unless  food  may  be  thrown  into  the  country 
from  more  favored  districts,  or  the  scarcity  relieved 
from  the  garnered  sur])liis  of  fruitful  years.  In  China 
the  latter  method  of  providing  against  the  disastrous 
consequences  of  a  failure  of  crops  is  adopted,  to  a 
certain  extent  at  least.     Among  Western  nations,  the 


SHIRAZ.  315 

possibility  of  an  overwhelming  calamity  of  this  char- 
acter falling  upon  any  district  is  effectually  precluded 
by  intimacy  of  commercial  relations,  and  the  exist- 
ence of  numerous  lines  of  rapid  international  commu- 
nication. But  witness  Persia,  wrapped  in  conceited 
and  indifferent  isolation.  She  has  refused  to  estab- 
lish generous  recij^rocal  commercial  relations  with 
other  nations.  She  has  failed  to  open  lines  of  easy 
and  rapid  communication  with  surrounding  coun- 
tries, and  has  thus  as  effectually  shut  herself  up  from 
the  reception  of  aid  in  case  of  emergency  as  though 
uj^on  another  planet.  Yet,  although  she  has  thus 
isolated  herself  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  she  has 
permitted  her  population  to  increase  till  there  is  a 
nicely  poised  equilibrium  between  the  number  of 
inhabitants  and  the  food-producing  capabilities  of 
the  country,  without  any  provision  whatsoever  hav- 
ing been  made  for  the  correction  of  any  disturbance 
that  accident  may  produce  in  this  equilibrium.  An 
emergency  occurs.  The  crops  throughout  the  coun- 
try foil.  No  relief  can  be  thrown  into  the  country 
from  without;  for  there  are  no  proper  commercial 
relations  existing,  and  no  adequate  means  of  trans- 
port. The  animals  of  the  caravans,  which  during 
time  of  plenty  have  kept  up  a  sort  of  semi-toi'pid 
movement  and  commerce  between  the  countr}^  and 
neighboring  states,  fall  the  first  victims  to  the  grow- 
ing scarcity  of  food,  and  the  country  is  thus  abso- 


316  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

lutely  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  world.  What  is 
the  result  ?  A  struggle  for  life,  and  a  harsh  crushing 
out  of  those  at  a  disadvantage  in  the  struggle.  Now 
this  was  never  so  intended.  Reason,  not  natural 
selection,  is  designed  to  have  sway  here.  But  if  it 
have  not,  if  the  equilibrium  of  population  and  sub- 
sistence be  not  guarded  and  maintained  by  wise  re- 
straints upon  an  undue  exj)ansion  of  population,  or 
by  intelligent  forecast  and  provision  for  times  of 
scarcity,  or  better — till  the  population  of  the  world 
is  vastly  greater  than  at  present — by  the  fostering 
of  a  certain  solidarity  of  sympathies  and  interest  be- 
tween the  different  nations  of  the  earth,  expressing 
itself  practically  in  the  establishment  or  adoption 
of  such  means  of  intercommunication  as  may  render 
possible  the  prompt  extension  of  effectual  relief  upon 
the  call  of  distress  from  any  member  of  the  union 
threatened  with  calamity — unless  this  matter  be  reg- 
ulated by  such  intelligent  means,  it  will  be  controlled 
by  natural  selection,  and  severe  will  be  the  action  of 
this  law,  because  in  entering  the  delicate  organiza- 
tion of  human  society  it  comes  into  a  system  intend- 
ed to  be  lifted  above  the  reach  of  the  rough  forces 
of  a  lower  world,  Perhaj)S  the  welfare  of  every  na- 
tion has  thus  been  bound  up  in  this  idea  of  universal 
brotherhood,  as  the  theologians  term  it,  or  community 
of  obligations  and  interests,  as  political  economists 
might  speak  of  it,  in  order  that  the  future  union  of 


SHIRAZ.  317 

tlie  race  might  be  placed  beyond  a  contingency  by 
this  setting  at  work,  for  the  grand  consummation,  the 
most  powerful  of  all  human  motives — self  interest. 

The  great  famine  in  Persia  has  struck  a  severe 
blow  at  the  counter  Asiatic  theory  of  isolation.  It 
has  taught  the  Orientals  that  God  never  intended 
that  they  should  wrap  themselves  in  offensive  se- 
clusiveness,  and  refuse  to  form  commercial  alliances 
and  symj)athetic  relations  with  one  another  and  with 
European  nations.  At  the  very  time  that  the  in- 
habitants of  Persia  were  dying  by  thousands  for 
want  of  bread,  Chicago  was  burned.  From  eveiy 
part  of  the  Union,  and  even  from  across  the  ocean, 
relief  was  poured  in  to  meet  the  emergencies  of  the 
sudden  calamity.  We  recollect  well  how  this  noble 
response  to  suffering  thrilled  us,  when  our  papers 
brouGfht  the  intellio-ence  to  us  in  Shiraz,  where  the 
peo]3le  were  dying  uncared  for  in  the  streets  of  the 
city.  So  intimately  blended  are  the  interests  of 
Western  nations  through  their  commercial  relations, 
and  of  such  a  common  nature  is  the  life  and  pulse 
that  beats  in  all,  that  when  one  member  of  the  so- 
cial body  suffers,  the  whole  body  suffers  with  it,  and 
prompt  assistance  is  extended.  Now  the  Oriental 
nations  can  not  refuse  to  participate  in  these  national 
reciprocities  without  incurring  the  penalty  of  such 
perverseness,  any  more  than  the  individual  can  refuse 
to  assume  the  duties  and  responsibilities  that  society 


318  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

demands,  and  escape  the  penalties  that  follow  the 
recluse.  A  severe  lesson,  truly,  this  which  Persia 
has  been  taught.  But  those  two  long  years  of  suf 
fering  will  yet  be  seen  to  have  been  freighted  with 
blessings  to  her,  if  their  trying  circumstances  shall 
open  the  eyes  of  those  who  hold  the  destiny  of  the 
country  in  their  hands  to  the  folly  of  the  al:)surd 
doctrine  of  isolation,  and  show  them  the  absolute 
dependence  of  national  prosperity  ujDon  membership 
in  the  great  family  of  nations.  Propositions  for  the 
establishment  of  railroads  in  Persia  have  been  more 
favorably  entertained  since  the  famine  has  taught 
their  utility.  The  Shah's  journey  through  Europe 
can  not  but  have  an  influence  upon  the  future  policy 
of  the  Persian  court.  What  the  Shah  and  his  coun- 
selors saw  will  tend  to  favorably  dispose  them  to- 
ward projects  of  internal  improvement.  We  prophesy 
that  not  many  years  will  pass  before  the  capital  of 
Persia  will  be  connected  by  rail  with  the  Caspian,  and 
its  jirincipal  centres  of  population  touched  by  railway 
lines  from  India,  on  the  one  side,  and  the  valley  of  the 
Tigris  and  Euphrates  upon  the  other;  and  through 
such  connections  the  recurrence  of  the  terrible  calam- 
ity of  1871-2  will  be  rendered  absolutely  impossible.* 

*  Since  the  above  was  written  several  of  the  provinces  of  India  have 
been  visited  by  famine.  In  some  of  the  districts  not  reached  by  the 
railways  the  sufferinfr  has  been  extreme.  But  these  instances  are  local. 
The  presence  of  the  English,  and  the  existence  of  extensive  lines  of  rail- 
way, have  saved  the  country  from  a  wide-spread  and  appalling  calamity. 


THE   RUINS   OF  PERSEPOLIS.  3^9 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    RUINS    OF   PERSEPOLIS. 

Historical  Sketch. — Alexander  at  the  Tomb  of  Cyrus. — Site  of  the  Pcr- 
sepolitan  Remains. — The  Cyclopean  Platform. — A  Magnificent  Stair- 
way.— Grand  Propylseum. — Gigantic  Wardens. — Stanley  and  Anti- 
quarians.— A  richly  Sculptured  Staircase. — The  Audience  Hall  of 
Xerxes. — Hall  of  the  Hundred  Columns. — Oriental  Hall  of  Audience. 
— Ruins  of  the  Palaces  of  Cyrus,  Darius,  and  Xerxes. — Massive  Por- 
tals.— Apartments  of  the  Palace. — Nature  of  the  Sculptures. — Rock- 
hewn  Tombs. — Rock-cut  Facades. — Remains  of  the  City  of  Persepo- 
lis. — Fortified  Gate. — A  Curious, Tower. — Rock  Tablets. 

Far  eclipsiDg  all  other  memorials  of  the  past  m 
Persia  are  the  ruins  of  Persepolis,  whose  stately  col- 
umns, massive  propylsea,  gigantic  wardens,  and  cy- 
clopean  stages  are  as  largely  responsible  for  the  lofty 
conceptions  we  entertain  of  Persia's  early  greatness 
and  magnificence  as  the  pompous  periods  and  gor- 
geous pictures  of  her  historians.  "  Not  only  youth- 
ful travelers,  glowing  with  imagination,"  writes  Vaux, 
"  but  those  of  sober  judgment,  matured  by  the  expe- 
rience of  many  years,  seem,  as  they  approach  these 
venerable  monuments,  to  be  inspired  with  the  genius 
of  Eastern  romance,  and  their  respective  languages 
scarcely  furnish  epithets  capable  of  expressing  with 
an  adequate  energy  the  astonishment  and  admiration 
excited  by  such  stupendous  objects." 


320  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

If  before  examining  these  antiquities  we  hastily 
trace  a  slight  sketch  of  the  ancient  Persian  Empire, 
we  shall  find  that  the  same  will  be  of  service  to  us 
in  enabling  us  to  refer  the  different  ruins  and  mon- 
uments to  their  proper  place  in  history;  and  thus 
we  shall  proceed  to  our  survey  of  these  remarkable 
architectural  remains  with  more  interest,  and  with 
prospects  of  fuller  instruction,  from  having  first  seen 
at  what  time,  under  what  influence,  and  by  what  an- 
cient kings  they  had  their  birth. 

The  early  history  of  Persia,  with  true  fidelity  to 
the  genius  of  development  as  exhibited  by  almost 
every  nation,  is  embodied  in  the  songs  of  her  poets 
or  in  the  tales  of  her  fabulists.  In  the  Rustem  of 
her  bards  we  find  the  Hercules  of  the  Greeks  and 
Romans;  and  in  the  Ions;  line  of  heroes  and  demi- 
ofods  of  her  traditionists  we  discover  an  exact  reflec- 
tion  of  the  storied  mythologies  of  the  classical  writ- 
ers.* It  is  not  until  we  descend  to  the  sixth  cent- 
ury B.C.  that  we  find  ourselves  free  from  the  mist 
of  antiquity,  and  treading  on  sure  historic  ground. 
The  patient  industry  of  the  investigators  of  the  cu- 
neiform records  of  Assyria  has,  however,  thrown  a 
few  rays  of  light  through  the  obscurity  of  the  two 

*  Tlie  groat  historical  pncm  of  Persia,  called  the  "  Shah  Namch,"  or 
••  Book  of  Kings,"  written  during  the  latter  part  of  the  tenth  century 
A.D.,  by  Firdusi,  the  "  Homer  of  Persia,"  is  a  compilation  of  all  the 
mythological,  traditional,  and  historical  memorials  of  the  Persian  Em- 
pire, from  the  earliest  times  to  the  Mohammedan  conquest,  A.D.  630. 


THE  EUINS   OF   PERSEPOLIS.  321 

or  three  centuries  preceding  that  date.  We  know- 
now  that  as  late  as  the  ninth  century  B.C.  the  Per- 
sians were  broken  up  into  independent  tribes,  inca- 
pable of  acting  in  concert,  and  thus  offering  an  easy 
prey  to  the  Assyrian  kings,  who  overran  the  country 
and  exacted  tribute  from  the  subjected  chieftains.* 
With  just  this  glimpse  at  the  condition  of  the  prim- 
itive Persian  tribes,  we  pass  over  three  centuries  to 
find  them  consolidated  into  a  state  or  monarchy,  and 
Pasargadse,  not  far  from  the  later  capital,  Persepolis, 
the  abode  of  a  Persian  court.  B.C.  558  the  rising 
Persian  po}ver  came  in  contact  w^ith  the  Median  mon- 
archy :  Persia  lost  her  king,  and  Media  her  kingdom. 
Cyrus  the  Great,  son  of  the  fallen  Persian  monarch 
Cambyses,  became  the  universal  master  of  the  Medes 
and  Persians;  and  under  his  soldierly  genius  the 
vastest  empire  the  world  had  yet  seen  arose  upon 
the  ruins  of  the  Median  and  Babylonian  monarchies, 
for  scarcely  had  Media  fallen  before  the  Babylonian 
power  was  broken  into  pieces,  and  her  sceptre  trans- 
ferred to  "Darius  the  Mede,"  to  whom  was  dele- 
gated, by  Cyrus,  the  government  of  Babylon.  Thus 
were  fulfilled  the  high  purposes  of  heaven. 

While  leading  an  expedition  against  some  Scyth- 
ian tribe — probably  the  Massagetse — Cyrus  received 
the  wound  that  in  a  few  days  terminated  his  life.* 

*  Rawlinson's  "Ancient  Monarchies,"'  vol.  iii.,  p.  365. 

t  Although  we  have  accepted  that  version  of  the  death  of  Cyrus 


322  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

He  was  buried  at  Pasargadae,  and  there  his  tomb 
stands  to-day,  surrounded  by  the  remains  of  the  mag- 
nificent structures  with  which  he  beautified  that  city. 
And  it  is  to  this  Cyrus,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see, 
that  we  must  ascribe  some  of  the  most  interesting 
and  important  of  the  Persepolitan  ruins. 

It  is  not  needful,  for  our  purpose,  that  we  follow  in 
any  way  closely  the  succeeding  brilliant  periods  of  the 
empire.  Under  Cambyses,  we  see  her  leading  her 
troops  along  the  Upper  Nile ;  and  but  a  little  later, 
under  Xerxes,  reviewing  her  fleets  upon  the  shores 
of  the  Hellespont.  The  East  for  the  first  time  pre- 
sumes to  measure  her  strength  with  the  West.  The 
insult  is  not  forgotten.  At  the  battle  of  the  Issus, 
Alexander  strikes  the  blow  that  at  once  avenges 
Greece  and  shatters  the  whole  fabric  of  the  Persian 
Empire.  The  battle  of  Arbela  quickly  succeeds; 
the  gates  of  Babylon  open  to  him  of  their  own  ac- 
cord; Persepolis  is  scarcely  taken  before  its  splen- 
did palaces  are  heaps  of  ruins;  at  Pasargada)  even 
the  sanctity  of  the  tomb  is  violated,  and  within  the 

which  seems  the  most  probable  after  a  comparison  of  authorities,  still 
we  admit  that  there  is  a  very  great  discrepancy  upon  this  point  among 
the  early  writers  :  "  Herodotus  and  Justin,  as  well  as  Diodorus  Siculus, 
state  that  lie  was  taken  prisoner  and  put  to  death  by  Toniyris,  queen 
of  the  Massageta?.  Ctesias  says  he  was  slain  by  the  javelin  of  an  In- 
dian, while  making  war  on  the  dervises  of  that  country;  but  Xeno- 
phon  informs  us  that  he  died  in  his  bed,  after  delivering  an  edifying 
address  to  his  two  sons,  and  was  buried  at  Pasargadaj,  in  the  year  B.C. 
529." — Eraser's  "  Persia,"  chap.  iii. 


THE   RUINS   OF   PERSEPOLIS.  323 

sepulchre,  basely  opened,  Alexander  reads  this  in- 
scription :  "  O  man,  whoever  thou  art,  and  whenceso- 
ever  thou  comest,  I  am  Cyrus,  the  founder  of  the  Per- 
sian Empire :  envy  me  not  the  little  earth  that  cov- 
ers my  body." — (Vaux's  "Nineveh  and  Persepolis," 
p.  99.)  And  thus  met  the  founder  and  the  destroyer 
of  one  of  the  most  magnificent  empires  the  world 
had  ever  seen. 

Alexander  soon  afterward  dies  at  Babylon.  Per- 
sia for  fifty  years  forms  a  portion  of  the  dominion  of 
the  Seleucidse.  Then  the  Parthians  wrest  the  prov- 
ince from  them,  and  for  five  hundred  years  maintain 
in  Persia  the  Parthian  monarchy.  A.D.  226  the  au- 
thority reverts  to  a  line  of  native  princes :  the  Sassa- 
nian  dynasty  is  founded;  and  though  the  rule  of 
these  kings  is  at  first  vigorous,  it  gradually  becomes 
weak  and  inefficient,  and  offers  but  feeble  resistance 
to  the  impetuous  outbreak  of  the  tribes  of  Arabia. 
The  conquest  by  the  Arabs  is  followed  by  that  of 
the  Turks ;  and  then  again  at  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century  the  Persian  line  is  restored,  and 
the  Saffanean  dynasty  established.  To-day  it  is  one 
of  the  weakest  and  most  despicable  governments  on 
the  face  of  the  earth,  and  its  conceited  Shah-in-Shah, 
or  King  of  Kings,  the  puppet-show  of  Europe. 

The  antiquities  to  which  we  shall  now  direct  our 
attention  will  be  seen  to  belong  entirely  to  the  earli- 
est and  most  brilliant  period  of  Persia's  history — to 


324  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

the  reigns  of  Cyrus,  Darius,  and  Xerxes.  And  thus 
these  monuments  are  invested  with  all  the  interest 
of  a  hoary  antiquity,  scarcely  yielding  in  this  respect 
to  the  remains  of  Assyria  and  Babylonia. 

The  ruins  of  Persepolis,  as  they  have  come  to  be 
called,  lie  about  forty  miles  in  a  northerly  direction 
from  Shiraz,  on  the  eastern  edge  of  the  extensive 
plain  of  Merdasht.  When  we  saw  this  plain,  in  ear- 
ly spring,  portions  were  beautifully  green  with  irri- 
gated fields ;  but  the  larger  part  lay  waste  and  bar- 
ren, presenting  a  very  different  aspect  from  what  it 
did  when  the  Persian  kings,  from  the  elevated  ter- 
races of  their  palaces,  overlooked  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  carefully  kept  valleys  in  the  world. 
Low,  gray,  sunburnt  hills,  thrice  as  barren  and  for- 
bidding as  ever  Virgil  imagined  the  Ithacaean  rocks, 
hem  in  the  plain  on  all  sides,  and  instead  of  height- 
ening by  contrast,  as  formerly,  the  beauty  of  the  em- 
erald valley,  now  intensify  its  repulsive  desolation. 

The  ruins,  as  we  have  already  said,  lie  just  at  the 
foot  of  the  hills  that  border  the  plain  on  the  east. 
Although  these  remains  are  usually  spoken  of  as  the 
"  Ruins  of  Persepolis,"  they  are  not  the  remains  of 
that  capital — few  traces  of  which  are  existing — but 
are  the  ruins  of  the  great  palaces,  which  were  situ- 
ated a  considerable  distance  from  the  city.  The 
entire  group  is  called  by  the  natives  Chehl  Minar 
("forty  columns"),  or  Tukhti  Jemshid  ("Jemshid's 


I 


THE  RUINS   OF   PERSEPOLIS.  325 

throne").  Almost  every  thing  of  a  wonderful  nature 
in  Persia  is  attributed  by  the  natives  to  this  fabu- 
lous character;  just  as  Hercules  among  the  Greeks 
and  Romans,  and  Semiramis  among  the  Babylonians, 
were  the  names  about  which  gathered  all  the  won- 
derful tales  from  every  source ;  and  just  as  Nimrod 
or  Solomon  with  the  Arabs  to-day  has  the  credit  of 
every  thing  remarkable  to  be  found  in  Assyria  or 
Babylonia. 

The  first  palace  built  at  Persepolis  was  founded 
by  Cyrus  the  Great;  others  were  raised  by  succeed 
iug  kings,  especially  by  Darius,  Xerxes,  and  Arta 
xerxes  Ochus.  The  mass  of  buildings  was  destroy 
ed,  at  least  partially,  upon  the  overthrow  of  the  em 
pire  by  the  Macedonian;  and,  indeed,  Alexander 
himself  is  said  to  have  fired  the  edifices  during  a 
"  drunken  frolic,  and  at  the  instigation  of  a  courte- 
san."* 

As  at  Baalbec,  it  is  the  massive  substructions  upon 
which  the  buildings  stood  that  constitute  one  of  the 
most  imposing  features  of  the  remains.  This  im- 
mense platform  is  fifteen  hundred  feet  in  length,  and 
nine  hundred  and  thirty-six  feet  in  width;  as  the 

*  The  name  of  Thais  at  least  has  as  sure  a  place  in  history  as  that 
of  Herostratus.  the  ambitious  youth  who  thought  to  immortalize  him- 
rielf  by  firing  the  Temple  of  Diana,  at  Ephesus.  According  to  Plu- 
tarch, as  quoted  by  Eraser,  the  palace,  though  greatly  damaged  by  the 
fire  kindled  by  Alexander,  was  in  existence  as  late  as  the  reign  of  An- 
tiochus  Epiphanes.  Some  accounts  attribute  the  final  destruction  of 
Persepolis  and  its  jjalaces  to  the  Moslem  iconoclasts. 


326  KEMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

ground  slopes  slightly  from  the  hill  toward  the  plain, 
the  platform  is  supported  by  walls  upon  three  sides 
only,  the  fourth  abutting  upon  the  hills  that  over- 
hung the  palace.  The  platform  is  composed  of  three 
terraces,  the  central  being  by  far  the  longest  and 
highest,  presenting  to  the  plain  an  imposing  and 
massive  front  seven  hundred  and  seventy  feet  in 
length,  and  over  forty  feet  in  height. 

This  gigantic  platform  is  the  most  remarkable 
work  of  its  nature  in  the  world,  far  exceeding  in  its 
dimensions  the  famous  substructions  of  the  Temple 
of  the  Sun  at  Baalbec.  The  Syrian  platform,  how- 
ever, surpasses  the  Persepolitan  in  the  size  of  the 
stones  used  in  its  construction.  There  are,  however, 
blocks  of  sufficiently  gigantic  dimensions  occurring  in 
the  supporting  walls  of  the  Persepolitan  stage.  We 
measured  one,  in  the  wall  of  the  southern  terrace, 
which  gave  a  length  of  twenty -seven  feet  and  a 
width  of  seven.  The  entire  face  of  this  block  was 
covered  with  cuneiform  inscriptions.  There  were 
many  other  stones  near  the  one  measured  of  nearly 
equally  gigantic  dimensions.  These  massive  blocks 
give  the  walls  a  strength  and  solidity  that  insures  to 
them  a  perpetuity  as  lasting  as  the  surrounding  hills. 
We  have  already,  in  connection  with  our  descrip- 
tion of  the  great  palace-mound  at  Nineveh,  alluded 
to  the  purposes  subserved  by  the"  enormous  mounds, 
stages,  terraces,  or   j)latforms   wliich    we   now   find 


THE   RUINS   OF   PERSEPOLIS.  327 

loaded  ^^'ith  the  debris  of  the  Assyrian,  Babylonian, 
and  Persian  palaces.  The  fact  that  the  Persepolitan 
platform  that  supported  the  Persian  royal  residences 
was  constructed  of  stone,  and  has  thus  been  able  to 
preserve  through  so  many  centuries  its  prominent 
features,  especially  its  wonderful  stairways,  unim- 
paired by  the  wear  of  time,  is  what  adds  greatly  to 
the.  interest  that  attaches  itself  to  this  stupendous 
monument  of  the  world's  ancient  builders. 

The  surface  of  the  platform  is  reached  from  the 
front  by  means  of  a  grand  staircase  over  twenty  feet 
in  width,  consisting  of  two  flights  of  broad  stone  steps: 
each  step  is  so  low  and  wide  that,  encouraged  by  the 
assurance  of  worthy  predecessors  and  the  examjDle 
of  our  guide,  we  mounted  on  horseback,  and  with 
such  ease  that  it  would  be  an  exaggeration  to  call  it 
any  kind  of  a  feat.  Both  Niebuhr  and  Fergusson 
unite  in  pronouncing  this  stairway  the  finest  work  of 
the  kind  that  the  ancient  or  even  modern  world  can 
show.  As  if  depending  on  its  grand  proportions  for 
admiration,  it  is  entirely  free  from  sculptures  or  or- 
namentation of  any  kind ;  while  the  smaller  stair- 
cases that  lead  from  the  northern  and  southern  ter- 
races to  the  central  one  are  most  profusely  decorated 
with  sculptural  designs  and  figures.  The  effect  of 
the  stern,  stately  simplicity  which  the  broad  sweep 
of  steps  imparts  would  be  injured  were  the  eye  al- 
lowed to  be  led  off  in  the  survey  of  any  thing  subor- 
dinate and  simply  sculpturesque. 


328  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

Ascending  this  stairway,  we  found  ourselves  upon 
the  northern  terrace,  confronted  by  two  colossal  bulls, 
wardens  of  the  ancient  palace.  In  their  gigantic  di- 
mensions they  seemed  to  belong  to  Egypt,"*  but  in 
conception  and  execution  to  Assyria.  These  colossal 
figures  flanked  an  imposing  propylseum,  twelve  feet 
wide  and  over  thirty  high.  About  one  hundred 
feet  from  the  first  gateway  is  a  second  of  equal  di- 
mensions, likewise  flanked  by  two  bulls  looking  to- 
ward the  hills.  These  difi'er  from  those  facing  the 
plain  in  being  represented  with  wings  and  the  human 
face  divine.  These  grand  propylsea  formed  the  ap- 
propriate portals  to  a  magnificent  hall,  of  which  only 
two  stately  fluted  pillars,  sixty  feet  high,  ornamented 
with  curious  and  elaborate  capitals,  that  constitute 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  height  of  the  column, 
are  left  to  enable  us  to  judge  of  the  nature  of  the 
structure.  The  excessively  elongated  capital  forms 
one  of  the  most  peculiar  features  of  the  architecture 
of  the  Achsemean  kings.  "  It  may  have  contented 
them,"  writes  Loftus,  "  to  borrow  indiscriminately 
from  all  [nations],  so  that  each  of  the  hundred  col- 
umns surrounding  their  throne  might  bear  upon  its 

*  That  Persian  art  felt  the  influence  of  Egyptian  scarcely  admits  ol' 
doubt.  Nebucliadnozzar  spoiled  Egypt,  and  one-fourth  century  after 
Cyrus  sacked  Ba])ylon.  (Janibyses  rifled  the  hundred-gated  Thebes, 
and  bore  away  many  troi^hies  into  Persia.  Through  these  mediate  and 
direct  contacts  with  the  Egyptians,  the  Persian  artists  must  have  re- 
ceived many  suggestions  which  had  much  to  do  in  giving  character 
to  Per-scpolitan  architecture. 


THE   RUINS   OF   PERSEPOLIS. 


329 


PROPYL^A   OF   XERXES. 


fluted  shaft  the  lotns,  the  palm,  and  the  bull,  and 
symbolize  the  glories  which  the  victorious  arms  of 
the  Persians  had  gathered  upon  the  battle-fields  of 
Egypt,  Assyria,  Greece,  and  Babylonia." 

But  although,  save  the  pillars  mentioned,  the  hall 
to  which  the  propylsea  gave  entrance  has  almost  en- 
tirely disappeared,  and  time  has  swept  away  the 
greater  portion  of  the  palaces  themselves,  whose  last 
master  passed  out  through  these  portals  more  than 
twenty  centuries  ago,  and  has  thrown  down  the  ar- 
chitrave of  the  propyliea,  and  left  many  a  defacing 
mark  on  the  giant  wardens  themselves,  yet,  time-worn 
and  scarred,  they  still  sentinel  the  surrounding  deso- 


330  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

lation,  and,  if  spared  from  iconoclastic  hands,  will  be 
for  many  centmnes  to  come  the  worthy  guardians 
of  the  ruins  of  the  palaces  of  the  Persian  kings. 

It  is  a  somewhat  ludicrous  anachronism  to  find 
these  ancient  propylsea  and  bulls,  besides  bearing- 
cuneiform  inscriptions,  covered  all  over  with  English 
initials.  By  and  by,  after  the  English  has  become  a 
dead  language,  some  curious  antiquarian  will  have 
a  real  time  determining  whether  it  were  Cyrus,  Da- 
rius, and  Xerxes,  or  Rich,  Malcolm,  and  MacDonald 
who  set  up  these  winged  bulls.  Perhaps  Stanley, 
too,  in  those  distant  times,  will  be  honored,  not  only 
as  the  discoverer  of  Livingstone,  but  also  as  founder 
of  the  Persepolitan  palace  :  "  Stanley,  New  York 
Herald,"  is  engraved  between  the  legs  of  one  of  the 
colossal  bulls  in  letters  as  bold  as  the  Ujiji  expedi- 
tion. 

Besides  the  propylaea  and  ruined  hall  to  ^vhich 
they  led,  there  are  no  remains  of  importance  on  the 
northern  terrace.  So  with  these  examined  we  ascend 
thfc  stairway  that  leads  to  the  great  central  terrace 
'vhich  supports  the  grandest  fragments  of  buildings 
that  are  found  on  the  platform.  This  staircase  is 
elaborately  ornamented  with  sculptures,  represent- 
ing triumphal  processions,  where  conqueror  and  cap- 
tive, crowned  king  and  long- robed  priest,  warriors 
armed  with  lance  and  shield,  bow  and  quiver,  and 
chariots  drawn  by  led  horses,  iii;ircli  along  in  stone 


THE  RUINS   OF   PERSEPOLIS.  331 

with  us  to  the  "  Hall  of  Xerxes,"  the  audience-cham- 
ber, or  throne-room,  of  the  Great  King.  Thirteen  lofty 
columns,  that  rise  up  grandly  to  a  height  of  sixty 
feet,  are  the  principal  remains  of  the  magnificent  pil- 
lared hall,  the  grandest  and  most  stately  audience- 
chamber  that  Eastern  monarch  ever  sat  beneath  to 
hear  and  judge  the  matters  of  his  subjects. 

The  bases  of  many  of  the  columns  that  have  fallen 
are  still  in  place,  and  thus  antiquarians  have  been 
able  to  restore  at  least  the  prominent  features  of  the 
edifice.  The  hall  propet  consisted  of  a  group  of 
thirty-six  columns,  each  rising  to  the  great  height 
of  sixty-four  feet.  Three  pillared  porticoes  inclosed 
this  central  group  on  three  sides,  at  a  distance  of  sev- 
enty feet,  thus  making  the  dimensions  of  the  struct- 
ure 350  feet  in  length  and  246  feet  in  breadth.  The 
main  cluster  of  pillars,  like  each  of  the  porticoes,  sup- 
ported a  roof.  Fergusson  thinks  that  the  edifice 
was  still  further  protected  by  walls  of  inferior  con- 
struction, which  time  may  have  removed.  But  Kaw- 
linson  supposes  the  structure  to  have  been  a  "  sum- 
mer throne -room,  open  to  all  the  winds  of  heaven, 
except  so  far  as  it  was  protected  by  curtains." 

Besides  this  hall  of  Xerxes,  there  was  another  of 
similar  construction  standing  upon  the  same  terrace, 
and  called  the  "Hall  of  a  Hundred  Columns."  It 
consisted  of  a  square  of  one  hundred  pillars,  fronted 
by  a  deep  portico.     Every  column  has  been  thrown 


332  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

down,  but  massive  doorways  and  monolithic  window- 
frames  of  black  polished  marble  render  it  easy  to 
trace  the  lines  of  the  inclosing  walls ;  for,  unlike  the 
hall  of  Xerxes,  the  phalanx  of  pillars  was  here  sur- 
rounded by  thick  walk.  This  structure,  though  it 
must  have  been  sufficiently  magnificent,  was  never  so 
imposing  as  the  lofty  audience-hall  of  Xerxes,  as  the 
columns  of  the  central  cluster  and  porch  were  only 
a  trifle  over  half  the  height  of  those  of  that  stately 
edifice.  It  was  doubtless  used  by  the  earlier  Persian 
kings  for  the  same  purposes  that  the  later  mouarchs 
employed  the  hall  of  Xerxes. 

The  originality  of  conception  and  boldness  of  exe- 
cution displayed  by  the  Persian  architect  in  these 
stately  "halls  of  audience"  will  have  been  remarked. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  architecture  of  any  other  peo- 
ple with  which  we  may  compare  them,  unless  we 
except  the  audience-halls  of  the  great  Mogul  sover- 
eigns of  India.  But  the  one  that  formed  an  adjunct 
of  the  palace  at  Delhi,  while  beautiful  and  sumptu- 
ous as  to  its  ornamentation,  in  stern  grandeur  and 
bold  stateliness  falls  far  behind  the  Persepolitan 
edifices.  Considering  the  early  age  in  which  they 
had  their  birth,  they  can  not  fail  to  excite  alike  our 
astonishment  and  admiration. 

From  a  description  of  these  public  structures  we 
now  pass  to  the  residences  of  the  Persian  kings. 
There  are  the  remains  of  four  palatial  edifices  lying 


THE  RUINS   OF   PERSEPOLIS.  333 

upon  the  platform.  These  have  been  identified  as 
the  royal  residences  of  Cyrus  or  Cambyses,  Darius, 
Xerxes,  and  Artaxerxes  Ochus.  The  remains  of  the 
first  are  scanty,  as  much  of  the  material  was  used 
in  the  construction  of  the  later  palaces.  There  are, 
however,  enough  blocks  left  to  render  it  possible  to 
trace  a  hall  and  portico  that  indicate  a  structure 
small  in  dimensions  compared  with  the  palaces  of 
the  two  last  sovereigns.  The  ruins  of  the  Palace  of 
Darius  lie  near  those  of  the  great  audience-hall  al- 
ready described.  These  remains  consist  principally 
of  massive  portals  and  windows;  the  jambs  of  the 
door-ways  and  the  entire  window-frames  being  mono- 
lithic* The  jambs  of  the  doors  are  adorned  with 
sculptures,  a  tiresome  repetition  being  maintained: 
the  constantly  recurring  figures  are  those  of  the 
king,  accompanied  by  two  attendants,  one  holding  a 
sun-shade,  and  the  other  a  brush  for  driving  away 
flies — from  which  we  may  infer  what  were  some  of 
the  annoyances  of  life  in  a  Persian  palace;  or  the 
royal  personage  is  represented  as  engaged  in  combat 
with  a  horned  monster,  which  he  seizes  by  the  horn 


*  This  is  simply  another  instance  of  the  direction  taken  by  the  pride 
or  ambition,  rather  than  the  taste,  of  the  ancient  builders  of  the  world. 
It  was  the  style  to  cut  and  place  gigantic  blocks  of  stone  because  they 
witnessed  to  the  power  and  resources  of  the  sovereign.  It  was  this 
pride  which  raised  the  vast  obelisks  of  Egypt,  that  hoisted  to  their 
places  the  huge  blocks  that  form  the  substructions  at  Baalbec,  that 
cut  and  polished  the  Persepolitan  monoliths. 

z 


334  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

with  his  left  hand,  while  with  his  right  he  plunges  a 
dagger  into  the  body  of  the  rampant  beast.  This 
figure  is  thought  by  Ravenshaw  to  be  entirely  sym- 
bolical, "  indicating  the  sun  passing  through  or  con- 
quering the  signs  of  the  zodiac."  In  confirmation 
of  this  view  he  quotes  Dupuis  to  the  effect  that 
"the  twelve  labors  of  Hercules  were  in  like  manner 
a  myth,  founded  on  the  annual  labors  of  the  sun."* 
The  remains  of  the  Palace  of  Xerxes  repeat  the  feat- 
ures of  the  preceding  one ;  while  the  royal  residence 
of  Artaxerxes  Ochus  is  represented  by  scanty  frag- 
ments of  walls  and  columns. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  Assyrian  palaces,  there  is  a    , 
diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  existence  of  a  second    • 
story  in  the  Persepolitan  royal  residences.     Fergus-    ■ 
son,  who  always  seems  to  be  inclined  toward  the    ■ 
side  of  grandeur,  supports,  without  much  apjDarent 
evidence,  the  theory  that  would  give  the  palaces  all 
the  imposing  effect  to  be  gained  by  a  second  story ; 
but  Rawlinson  rejects  this  view,  as  no  staircases  nor 
other  evidences  of  such  a  plan  of  construction  have 
been  discovered.     The  buildings,  if  but  one-storied, 
must,  have  presented  a  somewhat  low  and  massive  ap- 
pearance, which  would,  however,  be  in  part  counter- 
acted by  their  commanding  position  uj)on  the  terraces. 
The  chambers  and  different  apartments,  we  may  in- 
fer, had  the  gloom,  consequent  upon  such  a  massive 

*  "  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,"  vol.  xvi.,  art.  vii.,  p,  109. 


THE  RUINS   OF  PERSEPOLIS.  335 

style  of  construction,  relieved  by  all  those  sumptu- 
ous decorations  and  luxurious  arrangements  that  are 
the  invariable  adjuncts  of  royal  residences  in  the 
East. 

The  gradual  growth  of  the  successive  Persepolitan 
palaces  has  been  remarked  by  different  writers.  From 
the  comparatively  small  structure  which  we  may 
without  much  hesitation  attribute  to  Cyrus  the 
Great,  we  advance  to  the  extensive  palace  of  Ar- 
taxerxes  Ochus,  which  equaled  in  size  the  famous 
palace  of  the  Assyrian  Sargon.  But  we  think  that 
Rawlinson  is  the  first  to  call  attention  to  the  change 
that  may  be  observed  in  the  tone  of  the  ornamenta- 
tion of  the  earlier  and  later  palaces.  The  sculptures 
that  adorn  the  residences  of  the  first  kings,  Cyrus 
and  Darius,  represent  the  royal  person  engaged  in 
bold  and  manly  combat  with  lions  or  oth^r  monsters ; 
while  in  the  halls  and  chambers  of  the  palace  of 
Xerxes  we  see  that  these  give  place  to  representa- 
tions of  servants  bearing  articles  of  luxury  intended 
for  royal  use.  "A  tone  of  mere  sensual  enjoyment  is 
thus  given  to  the  later  edifice  which  is  very  far  fi'om 
characterizing  the  earlier;  and  the  decline  at  the 
court,  which  history  indicates  as  rapid  about  this 
period,  is  seen  to  have  stamped  itself,  as  such  changes 
usually  do,  upon  the  national  architecture."* 

At  Persepolis  "  it  is  but  a  step  from  the  palace  to 

*  Rawlinson's  "  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  iii.,  p.  393. 


336  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

the  tomb."  Directly  back  of  tlie  ruins,  in  the  face 
of  the  rock  that  overhangs  the  great  platform,  is  an 
artificial  recess,  sunk  just  deep  enough  to  protect  a 
beautiful  richly  sculptured  facade.  The  elaborately 
carv' ed  rock  recalls  the  sculpturesque  fronts  of  Petra. 
This  is  one  of  the  famous  rock-tombs  of  the  Persian 
kings.  Prominent  among  the  multitude  of  figures 
that  adorn  the  tomb  is  a  robed  personage,  doubtless 
intended  to  represent  the  sovereign  himself,  in  the 
position  of  adoration  before  a  fire-altar  and  a  globe, 
symbolizing  the  sun,  the  chief  object  emblematic  of 
the  deity  worshiped  by  these  Magian  kiugs."^^  Thus 
here,  as  is  always  the  case,  religion  and  the  sepulchre 
are  intimately  connected.  A  low  door,  toward  the 
base  of  the  fagade,  gives  entrance  to  a  small  vaulted 

*  Zoroastrianism,  or  the  worship  of  fire,  is  simply  a  corruption  of 
the  earlier  Chaldaean  Sabianism — the  adoration  of  the  "hosts  of  heav- 
en." The  Ghebers  and  Parsees  of  the  present  day  still  hold  the  doc- 
trines and  customs  of  their  ancestors  with  little  change.  They  worship 
the  element  fire  only  as  the  most  perfect  type  or  symbol  of  the  Su- 
preme Deity.  They  esteem  it  irreverent  to  extinguish  a  flame.  We 
once  asked  a  Parsce  if  when  a  candle  or  lamp  was  lighted  it  must  be 
allowed  to  burn  till  it  consumed  itself?  "No,"  said  he,  "for  though 
it  may  not  be  extinguished,  still  the  tip  of  the  candle  or  wick  may  be 
cut  off"  and" — "  Thrown  into  the  fire,"  suggested  we.  "  No,"  continued 
he,  "  placed  carefully  in  the  fire."  Yet  their  practical  view  of  things 
sometimes  gets  the  better  of  their  veneration,  as  when  the  "fiend"  is 
consuming  their  property.  In  India  they  have  been  known  to  work 
energetically  in  extinguishing  conflagrations.  Great  numbers  of  the 
Ghebers  have  been  driven  by  Moslem  persecution  into  India,  where 
they  arc  known  as  Parsees.  We  found  some  in  the  Vale  of  Cashmere. 
More  than  the  Japanese,  they  merit  the  distinction  of  being  called  the 
"  Yankees  of  Asia."  They  appear  more  like  Europeans  than  Asiatics ; 
are  enterprising,  intelligent,  and  progressive. 


THE  RUINS   OF   PEESEPOLIS.  337 

Chamber,  containing  niclies  for  tlie  reception  of  the 
bodies.  Tliere  are  seven  of  these  rock-hewn  tombs 
in  the  face  of  the  hills  about  Persepolis;  but  only 
one  has  any  inscription,  and  that  has  been  identified 
as  the  sepulchre  of  Darius  Hystaspis. 

Nearly  two  miles  north  of  the  group  of  ruins  we 
have  been  describing  a  broad  valley  leads  the  in- 
considerable stream  of  the  Pulwar  through  the  hills 
that  form  the  eastern  border  of  the  plain  of  Mer- 
dasht.  Just  at  the  oj^ening  of  this  valley  stood  the 
capital  of  the  later  Persian  Empire — Istakr,  as  known 
in  the  language  of  the  country,  but  w^hich,  through 
the  Greeks,  has  passed  into  history  under  the  name 
of  Persepolis,  or  "  City  of  the  Persians."  The  ruins 
we  have  already  examined  may  be  considered  as  the 
relics  of  the  royal  suburb  of  the  capital.  The  re- 
mains marking  the  site  of  the  city  proper  are  scanty 
and  unimportant  compared  with  those  that  cover 
the  great  stage.  Of  the  palace  that  stood  within 
the  city  nothing  remains  save  a  solitary  column 
and  some  fragments  of  walls  and  massive  doorways 
which  preserve  the  ancient  site. 

The  most  interesting  ruin  here,  however,  is  a  heap 
of  enormous  blocks,  that  is  supposed  by  some  to 
mark  the  position  of  one  of  the  city  gates,  but  which 
Rawliuson  suggests  may  be  the  remains  of  a  "  forti- 
fied gate,"  similar  to  the  Pylae  Cilicise,  or  the  Pylae 
Syriae,  described  by  Xenophon  in  the  Anabasis — in- 


338  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

tended  to  close  the  valley  against  the  passage  of  a 
hostile  army.  We  do  not  know  that  we  have  any 
authority  for  saying,  yet  we  suj^pose  it  to  be  so,  that 
the  ancient  custom  of  fortifying  with  walls  and  heavy 
gates  narrow  valleys  that  formed  the  natural  path- 
way through  mountainous  countries  is  what  leads 
us  often  to  speak  of  difficult  passes  as  "mountain 
gates." 

In  the  face  of  the  rocks  that  form  the  northern 
wall  of  the  Pulwar  valley  are  four  tombs,  similar  to 
the  one  above  the  great  palace  platform.  Beneath 
those  royal  sepulchres  are  numerous  tablets  of  a  com- 
paratively recent  date,  most  of  which  are  the  work 
of  the  Assacidan  (Parthian)  and  Sassanian  kings, 
who  ruled  Persia  durino-  the  first  centuries  of  our 
era.  We  will  not  attempt  to  give  any  description 
of  these  sculptures^  as  they  are  very  similar  to  the 
rock-tablets  of  Shapur.  of  which  we  have  given  a 
brief  account  in  another  chapter. 

Standing  near  the  base  of  the  cliffs  that  contain 
these  tablets  is  a  solitary  tower,  about  twenty  feet 
square  and  thirty  or  forty  feet  in  height,  solidly  con- 
structed of  immense  stones.  A  doorway  fifteen  feet 
above  the  ground  gives  access  to  a  single  lofty  cham- 
ber, roofed  by  massive  marble  beams,  six  feet  in 
width  and  twenty-four  in  length.  In  external  ap- 
pearance the  structure  resembles  the  tower-tombs  of 
Palmyra,  save  in  the  cyclopean  nature  of  its  mason- 


THE  RUINS   OF  PERSEPOLIS.  339 

ly.  Morier  believes  it  to  be  a  fire-temple,  or  more 
properly  a  fire-altar,  of  the  earlier  Magians. 

We  liav^e  now  glanced  at  tlie  most  important  of 
tLe  Persepolitan  remains.  We  have  not  attemj)ted 
a  minute  delineation  of  the  various  ruins,  but  have 
simj)ly  aimed  to  give  a  general  yet  accurate  de- 
scription of  their  most  prominent  and  interesting 
features.  These  ruins  give  us  almost  all  the  knowl- 
edge we  230ssess  respecting  the  architecture  of  the 
ancient  Persians.  The  remains  at  Pasargadse,^'  the 
capital  of  the  earlier  kings,  and  also  those  at  Susa, 
on  the  Susianian  plains,  are  insignificant  compared 
with  those  that  mark  the  site  of  the  Persej)olitan 
palaces. 

KepjDel,  in  speaking  of  the  Turks,  observes  that  a 
people  who  never  look  back  to  their  ancestors  will 
never  look  forward  to  their  posterity.  Persia  to-day 
witnesses  the  truth  of  this  reflection.  She  has  no 
care,  nor  even  curiosity,  resj)ecting  the  memorials  of 
her  former  grandeur;  and  probably  there  is  no  na- 
tion in  this  broad  world  more  forgetful  of  the  claims 
of  posterity.  But  fortunately  the  monuments  of  her 
golden  days  are  of  such  a  nature  that  they  find  pro- 
tection in  their  own  cyclopean   strength.     As  long 

*  The  tomb  of  Cyrus  the  Great,  whicli  stands  at  Pasargadse,  is  the 
most  interesting  structure  existing  on  that  ancient  site.  For  full  de- 
scriptions of  this  tomb,  and  the  other  remains  at  Pasargadse  and  Susa, 
see  Loftus,  "  Chaldsea  and  Susiana ;"  Rawlinson,  "Ancient  Monarchies;" 
and  Ker  Porter,  "  Travels." 


340  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

as  the  monuments  of  Egypt  shall  overlook  the  Nile, 
so  long  will  the  giant  wardens  of  the  Persian  palaces 
look  out  over  the  plains  of  Iran,  and  tell  to  wonder- 
ing centuries  the  story  of  the  magnificence  that  they 
witnessed  so  lone:  asjo. 


FROM  SHIRAZ  TO   CASEBIERE.  341 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

FROM     SHIEAZ    TO     CASHMERE. 

Departure  from  Shiraz. — An  Attack.  — Descent  to  the  Coast. — On  Board 
the  Ethiopia. — Persian  Gulf. — Muscat. — Coast  of  Beloocbistan. — Har- 
bor of  Bombay. — Great  Indian  Peninsula  Railway. — Over  the  Ghauts. 
— Allahabad. — Lahore. — Traveling  by  Dak. — Bungalows. — Palan- 
quin Travel. — Foot  of  the  Himalayas. — Bhimur. — In  the  Saddle. — 
Saidabad. — A  Picturesque  Valley. — Grand  Views. — Naoshera  Val- 
ley.— Scenery  among  the  Hills. — Ruined  Serais. — Great  Moguls. — 
Passage  of  the  Ruttan  Pir. — Tropical  Forest. — Alpine  Scenery. — 
Poshiana. — An  Arab  Scene. — A  Fractious  Animal. — Pass  of  the  Pir 
Punjab — Coloration  of  Flowers. — Scenery  about  Aliabad  Serai. — 
Glimpse  of  the  Vale  of  Cashmere. — Shapiyon. — Across  the  Valley. — 
Encamped  in  the  Gardens  of  Cashmere. 

FEOii  the  Valley  of  Shiraz  to  the  Vale  of  Cash- 
mere !  They  seem  a  loDg,  long  way  apart.  Yes ; 
and  should  we  stop  to  describe  each  scene,  and  tell 
each  incident  of  the  journey,  that  would  be  a  long, 
long  story,  and  might,  perhaps,  lack  some  of  those  el- 
ements that  alone  should  justify  so  lengthy  a  recital. 
Consequently  you  shall  be  transported  very  quickly 
from  the  hills  of  Persia  to  the  base  of  the  mountains 
that  overhang  the  plains  of  India. 

So  you  are  with  us  upon  the  11th  of  May,  as  we 
bid  farewell  to  Shiraz,  and,  well  mounted  and  armed, 
with  a  single  attendant,  set  out  for  the  sea-port  of 


342  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

Busbire,  a  journey  of  ten  days.  Scarcely  eiglit  hours 
from  the  cajDital  we  are  suddenly  attacked  by  four 
desiderate  -  looking  robbers,  armed  with  mattocks  — 
heavy  iron-headed  clubs — a  Persian's  favorite  weap- 
on ;  but  a  five-barreled  revolver,  unexj^ectedly  level- 
ed at  the  bared  breast  of  the  foremost,  who,  with 
lifted  club  and  fierce-set  countenance,  is  just  spring- 
ing like  a  beast  upon  his  prey,  suddenly  interrupts 
their  designs,  and  persuades  them  all  to  make  a  hasty 
retreat  from  what  they  well  know  is  imminent  dan- 
ger. They  evidently  thought  us  to  be  unarmed. 
These  Persians  can  not  comprehend  a  Frank's  way 
of  tucking  his  weapons  away  out  of  sight  in  some 
inner  pocket.  They  always  hang  their  arms,  when 
they  happen  to  possess  any,  about  themselves  as  con- 
spicuously as  possible;  and  while  danger  is  yet  a 
long  way  off  they  make  a  grand  flourish,  and,  if  they 
have  any  charges  to  spare,  fire  off  some  of  their  old 
flint-locks,  to  convince  the  enemy  that  they  will  go. 
Our  would-be  assassins  were  certainly  thoroughly 
astonished.  They  will  be  more  chary  of  Franks 
hereafter.  We  must  not  be  surprised  at  this  daring 
attack.  Persian  banditti  have  always  been  a  pest  of 
the  country;  but  just  now  their  number  is  increased 
tenfold  by  the  famine,  and  their  sufferings  render 
them  perfectly  reckless  and  desperate. 

The  second  day  we  reach  Deshti  Arjun,  wliich  we 
remember  as  the  "  Plain  of  the  Wild  Almond."    Since 


FROM   SHIRAZ  TO   CASHMERE.  343 

we  passed  through  this  upland  vale,  May  has  enter- 
ed, and  sown  it  all  over  with  flowers — red,  yellow, 
blue,  and  purple.  The  Eeliauts,  too,  have  entered 
with  the  spring,  and  their  tents  are  pitched  here  and 
there,  and  their  flocks  are  feeding  all  over  the  rich 
pastures.  We  climb  the  wall  of  hills  that  rim  the 
valley,  and  then  descend  to  the  Deshti  Burr,  the 
"Vale  of  Oaks."  It  is  a  lovely  spot.  The  groves 
are  filled  with  the  cooing  of  the  wood-pigeon,  and 
are  vocal  with  the  notes  of  tiny  warblers.  This  rec- 
onciles us  to  the  loss  of  the  flowers;  for  since  we 
camped  in  the  valley  before  the  blighting  heat  of 
summer  has  been  withering  the  more  tender  verdure 
of  the  plain  with  its  hot  breath.  We  are  still  fur- 
ther assured  of  the  advance  of  the  dry,  hot  season 
as,  reluctantly  leaving  behind  us  the  pretty  "Vale 
of  Oaks,"  we  descend  to  the  j^lain  of  Kauzerun, 
which  we  find  to  have  already  exchanged  the  beau- 
tiful hue  of  early  spring  for  the  sear  look  of  autumn. 
But  one  thing  delights  us.  The  harvest  has  come ; 
and  the  famishing  remnant  of  the  thinned  popula- 
tion are  gathering  in  such  crops  as  they  have  not 
seen  for  many  a  year.  Many  of  the  children  whom 
we  fed  when  we  passed  before,  and  who  were  then 
mere  languishing,  pitiable  skeletons,  are  now  actually 
fat  and  plump,  full  of  animal  life,  making  one's  heart 
bound  with  joy  to  watch  them.  There  are,  however, 
many  orphaned  ones,  and  among  twenty  or  thirty  of 


344  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

these  we  divide  the  last  of  the  bread  broiio-ht  from 
Shiraz  for  distribution  along  the  route.  At  evening 
we  stroll  through  the  almost  deserted  city  of  Kauze- 
run.  Death  and  ruin  are  every  where.  The  streets 
are  empty,  the  bazaars  are  empty,  the  houses  are 
empty,  the  mosques  are  deserted.  There  is  nothing 
more  melancholy  than  the  scenes  of  a  city  just  de- 
populated. 

We  leave  the  plain  of  Kauzerun  by  night,  for  the 
heat  is  now  too  intense  to  allow  us  to  travel  durino; 
the  day.  From  the  long,  dark,  winding  mountain 
defile  we  issue  upon  the  plain  of  Kumaridj  ;  then  de- 
scend the  "Simplon  of  Persia"  to  Koonar  Tukhteh, 
and  finally  drop  down  the  last  terrace  to  Dalikee, 
on  the  burning  coast.  Within  the  deepest  cloisters 
of  the  old  caravansary,  Avith  our  heads  swathed  with 
wet  towels,  we  pass  the  day,  with  the  mercury  in  our 
cell  at  103°,  and  130°  without.  Three  nights  take 
us  across  this  burning  plain  to  Bushire.  We  are 
just  in  time.  The  steamship  Etliiopia^  of  the  Per- 
sian Gulf  line,  is  lying  in  the  roadstead,  and  is 
to  weigh  anchor  for  Bombay  this  ver}?-  evening — 
May  18th.  We  are  glad  for  what  we  have  seen  of 
Persia;  and  glad,  too,  that  we  are  out  of  it,  as  the 
good  Ethiopia  bears  us  away  from  Bushire,  and  on 
down  the  Persian  Gulf 

For  two  days  we  skirt  a  liopelessly  barren  coast, 
presenting  nothing  save  sandy,  fiery  plains,  and  bare, 


FROM   SHIRAZ   TO   CASHMERE.  345 

arid,  featureless  liills ;  and  yet  here  is  where  Moore's 
imaoiiiation  wandered  to  find 

o 

"  Banks  of  pearl  and  palmy  isles." 

Twice  we  drop  anchor  at  Persian  ports ;  and 
twice  are  glad  when,  after  a  few  hours'  delay,  the 
Ethiopia  swings  her  anchor  again,  and  hurries  away 
from  the  uninviting,  hot-breathing  shore.  From  the 
Persian  coast  we  strike  across  to  Muscat,  on  the 
Arabian  shore.  We'  seem  to  be  approaching  the 
realms  of  Pluto.  What  black  Tartarean  rocks ! 
There  is  not  a  blade  of  verdure.  The  entire  coast- 
wall  looks  like  a  broken-up  lava  bed.  Cautiously 
our  steamer  creeps  into  a  rock-guarded  harboi^,  the 
Cove  of  Muscat,  the  "  Cryptus  Portus"  of  Ptolemy. 
The  echo  of  the  harbor  is  remarkable,  which  we  dis- 
cover as  the  boom  of  the  vessel's  signal  cannon  is 
tossed  back  and  forth,  from  wall  to  wall  of  rock,  in 
wondrous  reduj)lications  of  sound. 

From  inland  a  black  valley  comes  winding  through 
the  black  hills,  and  before  touching  the  shore  pushes 
them  apart  just  enough  to  make  space  for  a  little 
town ;  and  there,  wedged  between  the  Plutonic  rocks, 
lies  Muscat,  a  place  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen  thousand 
inhabitants.  The  sun  burns  down  upon  the  rocks 
till  they  scorch  the  very  air  that  touches  them.  The 
whole  scene  looks  perfectly  purgatorial.  The  sur- 
rounding rocks  are  fortified ;  and  from  several  tow- 
ers, perched  in  wondrously  dizzy  places,  the  blood-red 


346  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIEES. 

Arabian  flag  flames  against  the  dark  precij^ice  or  the 
glowing  sky. 

We  venture  ashore.  The  frontao-e  of  the  town 
looks  somewhat  Euroj^ean-like,  with  its  substantial 
stone  and  brick  buildings,  two  or  three  storied ;  but 
piercing  this  we  find  ourselves  in  a  labyrinth  of  nar- 
row, crooked  bazaars  and  streets,  and  surrounded  by 
low  mat-constructed  huts.  The  bazaars  are  stocked 
with  fruits  and  vegetables  in  most  refreshing  pro- 
fusion, contrasted  with  the  famine-stricken  stalls  of 
Persian  towns.  We  are  told  that  all  these  are  fur- 
nished by  the  gardens  lying  some  eight  or  ten  miles 
inland.  But  the  people  interest  us  more.  Tired  of 
Persian  rags,  it  is  a  relief  to  get  among  Arabs  again. 
They  are  scrupulously  neat  and  virtuous  in  aspect 
compared  with  the  dirty  and  villainous-looking  sons 
of  Iran.  But  we  must  not  allow  ourselves  to  con- 
stitute a  comparison  too  unfavorable  to  the  Persians : 
we  must  recollect  that  we  saw  them  under  unfavor- 
able circumstances;  the  famine  had  made  them  a 
nation  of  beggars.  Yet  the  contrast  observed  in 
passing  from  one  country  to  the  other  is,  at  this 
time,  most  noticeal)le  indeed. 

But  what  an  armed  community  ^^'e  are  among 
here !  Eveiy  man  met  in  the  street  carries  a  gun, 
or  is  girded  with  sword  or  dagger.  The  trader's 
sword  lies  by  the  side  of  his  goods.  The  bazaars 
swarm   with    swarthy    Bedawin,  covered   with   the 


FROM  SHIRAZ   TO   CASHMERE.  347 

clnst  of  tlie  desert,  each  a  perfect  perambulatiug  ar- 
senal, hung  with  matchlock  and  sword,  and  belted 
with  huge  daggers  and  pistols  and  knives. 

Just  at  evening  the  MJiiopia  slips  out  of  the  har- 
bor, and  turns  her  prow  eastward.  As  we  sit  on 
deck,  late  into  the  night,  a  familiar  friend  greets 
our  eye.  Low  in  the  southern  horizon  the  South- 
ern Cross  swino;s  above  the  haze  settled  over 
the  sea.  How  it  carries  us  back  to  those  starlit 
nights  which  lighted  our  canoes  upon  the  water- 
paths  of  the  South  American  forests.  We  may 
sit  several  hours  longer  now,  for  we  shall  not  tire 
with  such  a  companion,  full  of  the  memories  of  other 
times. 

A  little  more  than  one  day  from  Muscat  and  we 
touch  the  coast  of  Beloochistan,  at  Gwadur,  a  little 
station  of  the  Indo-European  telegraph  line.  Burn- 
ing, sandy  lowlands,  with  a  few  straggling  palms  en- 
deavoring to  shade  the  settlement,  and  bare  sunburnt 
hills  inland,  are  the  only  elements  in  the  ugly,  hate- 
ful view.  Beloochistan  is  justly  synonymous  in  our 
imaginings  with  barrenness,  desolation,  and  ghastly 
repulsiveness.  We  pity  anew  the  wearied  soldiers 
of  Alexander,  as,  when  retreating  from  the  fair  prov- 
inces of  India,  they  dragged  themselves  across  these 
dreary  sand-deserts ;  for  this  heaven-forsaken  country 
before  us  is  the  Gedrosia  of  the  ancients,  the  scene 
of  that  harassiuo;  march.     It  is  a  relief  when   our 


348  EEMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

steamer  turns  away  from  the  fierce  glare  and  fiery 
breath  of  the  desert  coast. 

Upon  the  afternoon  of  the  last  day  of  May,  the 
twelfth  from  Bushire,  we  steam  into  the  beautiful 
harbor  of  Bombay.  How  exhilarating  to  again  meet 
verdure -clothed  hills!  Picturesque  islets  and  isl- 
ands, w^ith  pretty  villas  enshrouded  in  foliage ;  impos- 
ing frontages  of  lofty,  noble  piles  of  buildings ;  steam- 
ers and  ships  flaunting  the  flags  of  every  nation ; 
hundreds  of  little  native  boats  careering  hither  and 
thither  with  swollen  sails,  and  lending  animation  to 
the  scene  —  all  this  immediately  about  us,  and  the 
lofty  ranges  of  the  Ghauts  appearing  through  the 
hazy  atmosphere  in  dim  perspective  far  inland,  are 
the  prominent  features  gathered  by  our  first  glimpse 
of  the  famous  "  Land  of  the  Veda." 

"VVe  should  love  to  linger  among  the  scenes  of 
Bombay,  but  we  must  not  think  of  indulging  this 
wish  at  present  (we  shall  return  again),  for  India  is 
now  burning  under  the  most  intense  heat  of  the  year, 
and  we  must  hurry  to  the  "hills,"  as  the  Anglo-In- 
dians term  the  Himalayas.  So  now  we  are  seated 
in  the  comfortable  compartment  of  an  English  rail- 
way coach  —  this  seems  like  being  in  civilization 
again — and  are  being  whirled  over  the  line  of  the 
Great  Indian  Peninsula  Railway, which,  in  connection 
with  the  East  Indian  Railway,  forms  the  grand  trans- 
continental railroad  of  Hindustan  between  Bombay 


FROM  SHIRAZ  TO   CASHiMERE.  349 

and  Calcutta.  A  few  ]ioiirs'  run  and  the  laborino; 
engines  are  dragging  us  up  the  western  slope  of  the 
Ghauts,  now  cautiously  winding  with  the  tortuous 
ravines,  no\v  plunging  through  endless  tunnels,  and 
again  slowly  mounting  the  long,  heavy  grades.  The 
cars  are  intolerably  hot  and  dusty;  and  the  scenery 
is  for  the  most  part  uninteresting,  yet  at  times  pict- 
uresquely wild  and  grand.  The  hills  are  clothed 
with  a  sparse,  stunted  tree  vegetation,  whose  foliage 
retains  a  degree  of  freshness ;  but  the  grass  is  burnt 
to  a  crisp  fi-ora  long  drought.  We  wonder  at  the 
thinness  of  the  population  ;  for  the  villages  are  small 
and  scattering.  Is  this  India  with  her  teeming  mill- 
ions ?  Wait  till  we  have  passed  these  sun  -  burnt 
mountains,  and  entered  the  valley  of  the  Ganges. 

Suddenly  our  locomotives  scream  triumphantly; 
they  have  reached  the  summit,  and  have  now  a  seem- 
ingly interminable  plain  before  them,  stretching  out 
eastward  to  the  horizon.  For  two  days  and  one 
night  we  rush  onward  over  this  plain,  passing  no 
places  of  particular  note,  and  late  in  the  evening  of 
the  second  day  reach  the  beautiful  city  of  Allahabad, 
right  in  the  centre  of  India. 

From  Allahabad  we  hasten  northward,  over  the 
lines  of  the  East  Indian  and  Delhi  railways,  seven 
hundred  miles  to  Lahore.  First  we  are  borne  up  the 
valley  of  the  Ganges:  now  we  need  no  longer  com- 
plain of  a  too  sparse  population.     As  town  succeeds 

A  A 


350  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

town,  and  city  succeeds  city  in  rapid  succession,  our 
wonderment  is  how  the  land  supports  such  an  enor- 
mous population.  We  pass  cities  famous  for  their 
architectural  wonders  or  historical  reminiscences — 
Cawnpore,  Lucknow,  Agra,  Delhi,  Umritsir  —  pass 
them  without  regret,  for  the  pleasure  of  their  explo- 
ration is  coming  by  and  by  when  w^e  return  from  the 
hills,  with  these  days  of  withering  heat  gone  by. 

At  last  we  are  at  Lahore,  the  city  of  the  Punjab — 
the  country  of  the  five  rivers — one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful provinces  of  India,  but  parched  and  burning 
now;  so, although  it  be  the  terminus  of  the  railroad, 
we  dare  not  make  it  the  terminus  of  our  journey. 
Cashmere,  the  Vale  of  Cashmere,  away  yonder  amid 
the  cool  heights  of  the  Himalayas,  the  foot-hills  of 
which  we  can  just  discern  through  the  glaring  haze, 
as  the  settins:  sun  throws  them  into  relief  a2;ainst 
the  northern  sky — that  is  the  terminus  of  our  jour- 
ney, our  longed-for  retreat  from  these  fiery,  blasted 
plains. 

So,  delaying  scarcely  to  rest,  we  resume  our  flight. 
But  how?  By  dah.  And  what  is  a  dalif  A  dcik 
is  simply  a  four-wheeled,  covered,  post  conveyance, 
arranged  ^^ithin  with  mattress  and  bolster,  so  that 
the  passenger  may  assume  a  recumbent  j^osition. 
The  vehicle  will  accommodate  two  persons  very  com- 
fortaV)ly.  In  such  a  conv(^yance  we  leave  Lahore, 
just  at  nightfoll ;  iov  traveling  under  an  Indian  sun 


FROM   SHIRAZ   TO   CASHMERE.  351 

at  this  season  is  not  to  be  tlaouglit  of  for  a  moment. 
The  road  seems  in  perfect  order;  and  this  is  fortunate, 
for  we  have  seventy-two  miles  to  make  before  morn- 
ing. Fresh  relays  are  furnished  every  eight  or  ten 
miles.  By  the  shade  of  Phaethou  !  how  these  natives 
drive!  Jehu  should  be  ashamed  of  himself!.  We 
wonder  if  our  rate  of  progress  be  the  normal  one; 
and  finally  discover  that  there  are  rival  companies 
running  their  dciks  over  the  route,  and  that  our  Jehu 
is  laboring  to  sustain  the  reputation  of  his  line,  which 
is  threatened  by  some  daks  that  left  Lahore  a  little 
behind  us.  Before  the  morning  sun  waxes  hot  we 
reach  Goojerat,  and  alight  at  the  travelers'  hiingaloio. 
And  what  is  a  bung-a-low?  That  is  the  Hindustani 
for  house ;  and  the  travelers',  bungalow  is  a  building 
intended  for  the  accommodation  of  persons  journey- 
in  o-. 

During  the  day  we  think  of  scarcely  any  thing 
save  the  heat:  it  is  almost  insuiferable.  The  door 
to  our  room  is  barricaded  with  thick  mats,  kept  con- 
stantly dripping  with  watei',  that  the  fiery  air  may 
be  strained  through  their  cooling  meshes  before  en- 
tering our  ctamber;  and  then  the  atmosphere  of  the 
room  is  gently  stirred  by  the  swaying  punha  —  a 
huge  fan  suspended  from  the  ceiling,  and  kept  in  mo- 
tion by  means  of  a  rope,  which  passes  through  the 
wall  to  the  hands  of  a  native  without.  Yet  with  all 
these  appliances  we  fail  to  reduce  the  temperature 


352  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

of  tbe  room  much  below  100°,  while  without — well, 
we  never  go  there. 

With  the  return  of  night  we  resume  our  journey ; 
not  by  carriage,  however,  but  by  palanquin.  These 
are  generally  borne  on  the  shoulders  of  four  natives ; 
and  fresh  coolies  are  provided  at  frequent  stations. 
They  bear  us  along  with  a  sort  of  trot,  keeping  step 
to  a  monotonous  chant,  and  long  before  morning  have 
deposited  us  at  Bhimur,  thirty  miles  from  Goojerat. 

Just  before  reaching  this  place  we  observe,  as  we 
thrust  our  heads  from  the  door  of  our  palanquin,  that 
a  dark,  spectral,  gloomy  thunder-cloud  is  darkening 
all  the  northern  horizon.  But  how  is  it  tbat  so 
many  stars  gleam  through  the  heavy  banks  of  clouds  ? 
Those  stars  are  camp-fires,  high  up  on  the  dark  flanks 
of  the  Himalayas,  that  through  the  night  seem  like 
gloomy  storm-clouds  heaped  along  the  sky.  We 
push  in  among  the  foot-hills,  and  with  the  fires  still 
burning  above  us,  throw  ourselves  on  our  cots,  drag- 
ged outside  the  bungalow  under  the  open  heavens; 
and,  while  attempting  to  secure  a  little  rest  before 
the  day  shall  come  with  its  distracting  heat,  we 
dream  of  climbing  the  mountains,  with  the  cool 
breezes  fanning  us,  and  the  spray  of  leaping  streams 
refreshing  the  air  all  around. 

And  now,  as  we  have  brought  you  quickly,  as  we 
promised,  over  many  thousand  miles  of  sea  and  land, 
to  the  shadow  of  these  giant  mountains,  we  will  not 


FROM   SHIRAZ   TO   CASHIVIERE.  353 

ask  you  to  hurry  on  farther  with  us ;  but  H and 

I  will  climb  the  Himalayas  alone,  and  give  you,  more 
leisurely,  the  narrative  of  our  adventures. 

Bhimur  is  a  small  native  village,  similar  in  appear- 
ance, and  quite  equal  in  wretchedness,  to  any  Arab 
or  Persian  town.  The  dwellings  are  rude,  diminu- 
tive mud  or  stone  built  structures,  making  no  pre- 
tensions to  either  neatness  or  comfort.  The  town  is 
situated,  as  has  already  been  discovered,  at  the  base 
of  the  Himalayas,  just  a  little  way  in  among  the  foot- 
hills which  the  gigantic  ranges  form  as  they  break 
down  gradually  to  the  plains  of  India.  It  is  two 
hundred  miles  from  Cashmere,  which  lies  up  among 
the  loftier  peaks.  There  are  several  routes  to  the 
valley ;  but  the  Bhimur  trail,  which  we  chose,  though 
the  most  difficult,  is  the  shortest ;  yet  so  necessarily 
slow  is  the  traveler's  progress  that  fourteen  days  are 
required  to  make  the  journey  over  this  path. 

The  day  of  our  arrival  at  Bhimur  was  spent  in 
making  overtures  for  horses,  and  in  parceling  our 
baggage  into  convenient  coolie  loads.  Our  Lahore 
servant,  our  medium  of  communication,  was  by  no 
means  an  adept  in  the  management  of  English 
idioms;  but  we  soon  supplemented  some  of  his 
most  glaring  deficiencies  with  Hindustani  words  and 
phrases,  with  which  we,  anticipating  just  such  an 
emergency  as  this,  had  fore-armed  ourselves;  and 
thus,  as  our  khansaman  was  tolerably  quick  of  ap- 


;354  REMAINS  OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

prehension,  all  our  arrangements  were  consummated 
without  much  embarrassment.  Two  little  mountain 
saddle-j)onies  and  several  coolies  were  secured  for 
the  first  night's  journey,  fresh  relays  of  horses  and 
coolies  being  provided  for  the  traveler  at  each  sta- 
tion. Bungalows,  we  were  informed,  would  be  found 
at  convenient  stao-es  alons;  the  entire  road. 

Just  at  sunset  we  mounted  our  ponies,  and  with 
our  coolie  guides  wound  for  a  while  among  the  foot- 
hills, which  were  covered  with  jungle,  and  then  climb- 
ed the  precipitous  flank  of  the  Adatak  range,  attain- 
ing the  summit  about  midnight.  The  breeze  that 
now  reached  us  from  the  mountains  was  fresh  and 
invigorating,  and  seemed  Boreal  contrasted  with  the 
fiery  breath  of  the  hot  plains  lying  just  discernible 
in  the  thick  haze  of  the  moonlio-ht  below.  We  threw 
ourselves  from  our  saddles  upon  the  ground,  just  to 
enjoy  this  new  atmosphere.  We  never  imagined 
there  could  be  so  exquisite  a  pleasure  in  simple  res- 
piration. But  it  seemed  an  object  now  to  live  just 
for  the  sake  of  breathing.  Every  inspiration — free, 
full,  fresh,  invigorating  —  gave  a  new  lease  of  life. 
It  was  the  first  enjoyable  breathing  we  had  done 
since  leaving  Bombay. 

Kemounting,  we  descended  into  a  deep  valley,  to 
the  little  village  of  Saidabad,  where  we  found  a  good 
bungalow,  and  passed  a  comfortable  day,  the  mer- 
cury not  rising  above  96°,  as  the  higli  range  we  had 


FROM  SHIRAZ   TO   CASHilERE.  355 

passed  shut  out  tlie  liot,  suffocating  breath  of  the 
plains.  The  valley  of  Saidabad  was  partly  culti- 
vated, and  was  sub-tropical  in  its  vegetation.  The 
jungles  of  the  foot-hills  here  assumed  arboreal  propor- 
tions, and  sprinkled  the  bottom  of  the  valley,  as  well 
as  the  slopes  of  the  mountains,  with  a  thin  forest. 
The  trees,  standing  in  broken,  ragged  lines  along  the 
brow  of  the  abrupt,  encircling  hills,  mimicked  the 
picturesque  effect  produced  by  dark,  solitary  masses 
of  foliage  rising  from  the  walls  of  some  ancient  ruin. 
As  soon  as  evening  had  come  we  left  Saidabad, 
and  climbed  just  such  a  range  as  w^e  had  mounted 
the  preceding  night.  The  slope  was  covered  with 
a  thin  forest  of  pines  and  palms,  and  our  ride  through 
these,  beneath  the  soft  moonlight,  was  simply  en- 
trancing. What  with  open  forest  and  intervening 
glades,  we  seemed  again  amid  scenes  of  the  home- 
land. Through  the  pines  that  crowned  the  summit 
of  the  ridge  the  wdnds  moaned  just  as  they  sob  amid 
the  firs  of  our  Northern  forests.  From  the  top  of  the 
range  we  had  a  weird  view.  The  forests  that  crown- 
ed one  of  the  loftiest  peaks  ahead  were  all  ablaze, 
and  the  whole  summit  glowed  like  a  volcano.  The 
fire,  running  down  the  valleys,  looked  like  streams 
of  burning  lava,  leaping  in  fiery  cascades  down  the 
abrupt  flanks  of  the  mountain.  And  while  the  fires 
that  formed  the  blazing  crown  of  the  peak  seemed 
mounted  half-way  up  the,  heavens,  there  were  hidden 


356  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

fires  burning  in  profound  valleys  far  beneath  us,  that 
only  revealed  themselves  by  the  lurid  reflection  they 
cast  up  the  steep  slopes  and  shot  against  the  sky, 
which  seemed  through  the  gloom  of  the  night  as 
though  thrown  up  from  the  open  door  of  Pluto's  do- 
minions. 

The  valley  of  Naoshera,  into  which  we  descended 
and  passed  the  day,  was  a  most  inviting  spot.  The 
encompassing  hills  were  thinly  wooded,  and  the  bot- 
tom of  the  vale  either  clothed  with  copse  or  relieved 
by  cultivation ;  while  immediately  about  the  few 
huts  that  composed  the  town  peaches,  pears,  apri- 
cots, and  oranges  were  fruiting  abundantly.  Par- 
rots and  paroquets,  and  many  equally  noisy  birds, 
made  the  groves  resonant  during  the  morning;  but 
as  the  heat  of  the  day  advanced  Nature  seemed  to 
droo]3,  and  the  birds  became  silent,  and  hid  away 
amid  the  thickest  foliage ;  for,  though  cool  compared 
with  the  fiery  heat  of  the  plains,  it  was  still  hot,  the 
thermometer  marking  96°  at  sundown. 

From  Naoshera  onward  we  changed  our  hours  of 
travel  from  the  night  to  the  early  morning — leaving 
our  stations  just  at  break  of  day,  and  completing  our 
stage  generally  before  the  sun  grew  warm  enough  to 
render  travel  uncomfortable.  Our  route  from  Nao- 
shera  led  us  for  three  days  up  a  broad  and  beautiful 
valley,  which  often  surprised  us  with  the  discovery 
of  picturesque  bits  of  scenery.     The  Ijottom  of  the 


FROM   SHIRAZ  TO   CASHJIERE.  357 

gently  falling  valley  was  at  times  more  than  a  mile 
in  breadth,  and  dropped  down  in  broad,  low,  flooded 
terraces,  loaded  with  rice;  while  the  slopes  of  the 
hills  were  also  carefully  terraced  high  up  from  the 
valley,  and  irrigated  by  means  of  conduits  led  off 
from  the  stream  a  long  distance  above,  and  then  con- 
veyed along  the  flank  of  the  mountains.  In  these 
terraced  sections  the  valley  suggested  the  scenes  of 
the  Rhine ;  again,  when  it  displayed  more  of  its  na- 
tive wildness,  and  led  the  eye  up  its  long,  green 
slopes,  or  down  its  tortuous  course,  it  spoke  of  New 
England.  During  all  the  days  that  we  were  follow- 
ing up  this  valley  it  seemed  as  though  we  were  trav- 
eling through  a  hilly  country,  rather  than  mounting 
the  flank  of  a  gigantic  mountain  range.  It  was  only 
the  j)nrer,  cooler  air  we  breathed,  and  the  gradual 
fall  of  our  barometer,  that  convinced  us  that  we  were 
steadily  rising  above  the  j^laius. 

The  antiquities  we  found  in  the  valley  were  in- 
teresting, not  from  any  architectural  features,  but  be- 
cause of  their  historical  significance.  The  remains 
referred  to  consist  of  two  ruinous  serais,  large  quad- 
rangular, cloistered  buildings,  similar  in  every  respect 
to  the  khans  of  Turkey  or  the  caravansaries  of  Per- 
sia. They  date  back  several  centuries,  to  the  great 
Mogul  emperors,  and  attest  the  former  importance 
of  this  route  as  a  line  of  trafiic  between  Cashmere 
and  India.     The  Mogul  sovereign   Aurungzebe,  in 


358  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

moving  Ins  court  from  Delhi  to  Cashmere,  to  avoid 
the  summer  heats  of  the  plains,  is  affirmed  by  the 
traveler  and  court-physician  Bernier  to  have  been 
attended  by  a  magnificent  retinue  of  45,000  guards, 
cavalry  and  foot,  400,000  persons  in  some  way  con- 
nected with  and  dependent  upon  the  court,  150,000 
horses  and  elephants,  and  100,000  oxen  and  camels. 
Bernier's  recital  of  the  magnificence  of  this  "  peram- 
bulating court,"  which  enlivened  with  the  pageantry 
of  frequent  passage  this  now  ruin-lined  route,  par- 
takes of  the  aroma  of  the  "  Arabian  Nights ;"  yet  we 
have  no  reason  to  pronounce  him  other  than  a  trust- 
worthy delineator  of  the  extraordinary  scenes  in  the 
midst  of  which  he  moved. 

Our  third  day's  stage  uj)  this  valley  brought  us  to 
Thana,  a  small  hamlet  lying  at  the  base  of  the  Ruttan 
Pir,  which  confronted  us  with  abrupt  Alpine  heights, 
and  seemed  to  bar  all  farther  progress.  But  the  fol- 
lowing morning  our  guide  boltlly  commenced  to  lead 
us  up  its  heavily  wooded  flanks,  and  in  a  few  hours 
we  stood  upon  the  summit  of  the  pass,  at  an  eleva- 
tion of  over  8000  feet.  The  view  was  magnificent. 
The  upper  portion  of  the  range  w^as  shaded  with 
dark  firs;  while  the  lower  slopes  were  loaded  with 
heavy  tropical  forest,  extending  almost  to  the  bottom 
of  the  valley  we  had  traversed,  which,  winding  away, 
lost  itself  among  the' hills.  Rising  above  the  pro- 
found valleys  in  our  front,  and  promising  plenty  of 


FROM   SHIRAZ   TO   CASHMERE.  359 

wild  climbing,  were  lofty,  icy  ranges,  thoroughly  Al- 
pine in  their  breadths  of  snow. 

Descending  the  northern  slope  of  the  Rnttan  Pir, 
we  found  ourselves  entangled  in  a  forest  of  tropical 
luxuriance,  the  first  we  had  encountered  that  could 
be  compared,  in  point  of  freedom  and  stateliness  of 
growth,  to  the  forests  that  clothe  the  slopes  of  the 
Andes.  Yet  the  nature  of  the  vegetation  in  the  two 
instances  is  very  different;  for  while  the  forests  of 
the  equatorial  Andes  exhibit  a  strange  absence  of  all 
conifers,  those  of  the  Ruttan  Pir  are  composed  largely 
of  giant  firs,  their  tall,  dark  cones,  high  aloft,  contrast- 
ino;  with  the  lio-hter  foliao-e  of  the  oak  and  chestnut. 
Troops  of  apes,  however,  of  which  we  saw  two  large 
companies,  leaping  recklessly  through  the  tops  of  the 
trees,  helped  wonderfully  to  make  the  scene  Ama- 
zonian-like. 

At  Baramgulla,  which  village  we  found  by  climb- 
ing to  the  bottom  of  a  profound,  wild  ravine,  we 
halted  for  refection,  and  for  a  fresh  relay  of  horses 
and  coolies ;  as,  being  now  able  to  travel  throughout 
the  entire  day,  we  had  determined  to  shorten  our 
journey  by  making  double  stages.  Resuming  our 
march,  we  followed  up  an  Alj^ine  gorge,  threaded  by 
a  rapid  stream,  which  was  so  closely  hemmed  in  by 
abrupt  clifts  that  the  trail  was  constantly  thrown 
from  side  to  side  to  find  a  footing.  After  crossing 
the  stream  twenty-five  times,  by  as  many  rude  native 


360  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

bridges,  the  patli  climbed  recklessly  up  the  right 
bank,  to  a  little  huddle  of  huts  clinging  to  the  dizzy 
flank  of  the  ravine. 

Poshiana,  for  such  was  the  native  name  of  the  lit- 
tle cluster  of  huts  at  w^hich  we  had  arrived,  seemed 
to  us  more  Arab-like  than  Indian  in  its  character. 
Every  thing,  save  the  dark  fir  -  clothed  mountains 
around,  and  the  more  distant  Alpine  peaks  that  over- 
topped them,  served  to  suggest  Syrian  scenes.  The 
huts  were  mud-walled  and  flat-roofed;  and,  as  is  often 
the  case  in  a  Syrian  Arab  village,  every  thing  of  life 
seemed  atop  of  the  house.  Stuck  as  the  buildings 
were  against  the  steep  bank,  the  necessity  for  a  back 
wall  disaj^peared  entirely,  and  the  roofs  were  thus 
easily  accessible  by  the  goats  and  bullocks.  It 
seemed  the  deli2;ht  of  the  former  to  stand  or  lie 
close  upon  the  front  edge  of  the  roof  and  look  down 
into  the  dizzy  ravine.  Upon  a  single  roof,  of  very 
limited  dimensions,  we  observed  four  bullocks,  three 
goats,  a  heifer,  which  several  youngsters  were  at- 
tempting to  ride,  and  a  group  of  men  and  women ; 
the  latter  enorao-ed  in  a  violent  demonstrative  alter- 
cation  with  a  party  of  equally  excited  persons  of 
their  own  sex  on  another  roof,  which  fortunately  was 
separated  from  the  first  by  an  impassable  gulf.  At 
proper  intervals  the  men  would  leap  up,  rush  to  the 
edge  of  the  roof,  and  render  ^vhat  assistance  they 
could  to   make  the  fracas  more  noisy  and   gesticu- 


FROM   SHIRAZ  TO   CASHMERE.  3(31 

latory.  Altogether  the  sceue  was  Syrio- Arabic  to 
the  life. 

The  coolies,  too,  that  we  took  from  Poshiana,  upon 
resuming  our  journey,  seemed,  all  innocently  enough 
indeed,  to  possess  the  peculiarly  Arab  faculty  of 
somehow  creating  a  ludicrous  scene.  The  animals 
they  furnished  us  were  mules,  one  of  which  was  par- 
ticularly fractious.  The  saddle  constantly  working 
forward  upon  his  neck,  our  coolies  improvised  a 
crupper,  which  did  not  work  just  right;  for  on  a 
steep  descent  the  beast,  being  irritated,  threw  his 
rider,  and  commenced  to  kick.  As  the  trouble  was 
high,  he  kicked  high ;  but  this  only  raised  the  diffi- 
culty, and  he  elevated  his  heels  proportionately,  till 
he  was  balancing  on  his  fore  feet,  with  his  posterior 
members  making  spasmodic  lunges  toward  the  zenith. 
Coolies  are  the  most  imperturbable  creatures  in  this 
world ;  but  this  scene  was  too  ludicrous  even  for 
their  torpid  risibility,  and  for  once  they  shouted  in 
hearty  appreciation.  It  was  some  time  before  they 
could  persuade  the  excited  beast  to  assume  a  more 
becoming  attitude,  and  employ  his  legs  more  legiti- 
mately. 

With  order  restored  we  pushed  on  up  the  wild 
gorge  we  had  followed  the  previous  day,  creeping 
cautiously  along  the  all  but  perpendicular  flank,  a 
thousand  feet  above  the  stream. that  threaded  with 
a  line  of  foam  the  bottom  of  the  ravine.     At  length 


362  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

we  climbed  up  the  side  of  the  valley,  over  treach- 
erous shingle  and  snow,  to  the  pass  of  the  Pir  Punjal, 
11,400  feet  above  the  sea-level.  This  afforded  us  an- 
other grand  view.  Southward  the  mountains  broke 
down  in  successive  terraces,  and  retreated  in  the  haze 
of  the  plains;  northward  a  gently  inclined  valley, 
flanked  by  snowy  peaks,  led  to  the  hidden  Vale  of 
Cashmere.  The  forests  seemed  to  be  struggling  hard 
to  gain  the  summit  of  the  range,  but  their  thinned 
ranks  were  pushed  back  while  yet  more  than  three 
hundred  feet  below  the  pass. 

Although  the  snow  was  yet  lying  about  in  heavy 
drifts,  the  earth  was  in  places  variegated  with  deep- 
hued  Alpine  plants,  many  a  bed  of  exquisitely  del- 
icate-tinted flowers  being  spread  under  the  cold  drip- 
pings of  some  lingering  snow-di'ift.  Deep  blue  and 
purple  and  bright  yellow  and  pink  colors  predom- 
inated. 

All  high  mountain-passes  we  have  ever  been  upon 
exhibit  this  phenomenon — the  intense  coloration  of 
the  flowers  growing  upon  them.  The  cause  doubt- 
less exists  in  the  more  active  chemical  properties  of 
the  light  that  they  receive,  compared  to  that  which 
falls  upon  the  plants  of  a  lower  altitude.  The  ac- 
tinic elements  of  the  sun's  rays  are  absorbed  in  pass- 
ing through  the  atmos2)here;  and  thus  the  light 
eaught  by  the  vegetation  of  high  mountains  possesses 
a  more  intense  coloring  power  than  that  which   is 


FROM   SHIRAZ   TO   CASH3HERE.  353 

strained  throngli  tlie  whole  depth  of  the  atinosj)hei'e. 
We  have  sometimes  wished,  wliile  enthusiastically 
gathering  the  bright  gems  of  some  elevated  pass,  that 
all  the  flowers  of  the  every-day  world  might  be  equal- 
ly deep-hued  and  brilliant.  But  then  it  is  probably 
best  as  it  is.  The  sensuous  eye  might  weary  of  such 
bright  colors  were  they  constantly  before  it,  and  might 
seek  for  more  delicate  tints. 

A  long  and  gentle  descent  from  the  pass  of  Pir 
Punjal  brought  us  to  Aliabad  Serai,  a  ruined  car- 
avansary standing  alone  in  the  midst  of  Alpine 
grandeur.  Several  peaks  over  fourteen  thousand  feet 
in  elevation  sentineled  our  resting-place.  The  lower 
slopes  were  loaded  with  dark  forests  of  fir,  and  above 
t^ese  was  a  higher  belt  of  birch,  to  which  succeeded 
a  broken  zone  of  scant  verdure;  above  which  the 
peaks  still  rose  in  dizzy  sweeps  of  precipice,  throwing 
off  all  covering  whatsoever,  and  reaching  up  and  up, 
stern  and  bare,  till  the  snow  in  pity  mantled  their 
nakedness,  and  the  clouds  wrapped  them  about. 

In  the  early  morning  we  de^^arted  gladly  from  Ali- 
abad Serai,  for  before  evening  we  anticipated  behold- 
ino;  the  Vale  of  Cashmere.  The  ravine  we  followed 
as  we  descended  was  gradually  transformed  to  a 
broad-bottomed  valley,  where  we  were  led  beneath  a 
noble  forest  of  pine  and  birch  and  maj^le.  As  we 
issued  upon  the  openings  of  the  flower-strewn  glades 
we  caught  distant  glimpses  of  the  Cashmere  valley. 


364  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

The  whole  scenery  was  more  New-England-like  than 
any  thing  we  had  before  found  in  Asia:  the  trees 
and  shrubs  and  flowers  were  nearly  all  such  as  are 
known  to  our  forests  and  pasture  -  lands.  At  last 
this  beautiful  valley  opened  full  into  the  Vale  of 
Cashmere.  Just  at  the  embouchure  we  found  the 
village  of  Shapiyou,  half  Swiss  in  its  architecture,  and 
overshadowed  by  venerable  chenars  and  poplars  and 
willows.  The  mountain-walls  about  the  valley  were 
grand ;  and  beautiful  was  the  sunset,  as  it  flushed 
their  snow-fields,  and  made  their  icy  peaks  glow  like 
gold. 

From  Shapiyon  to  the  city  of  Cashmere  is  a  long 
but  pleasant  day's  ride  of  thirty  miles,  almost  direct- 
ly across  the  valley.  About  five  or  six  miles  from 
Cashmere  commences  an  avenue  of  poplars,  which,  as 
the  city  is  approached,  grow  larger  and  more  venera- 
ble, constituting  a  noble  entrance  to  the  capital.  As 
we  enter  this  magnificent  street,  the  presence  of  a 
large  city  is  indicated  by  the  stream  of  life  we  meet : 
peasants  and  coolies  moving  heavily  under  their 
burdens;  well-dressed  parties  sauntering  along  at 
leisure;  and  grand  ofiicials  hurrying  by  with  their 
attendant  retinues.  We  enter  the  city,  pass  through 
several  streets  lined  with  Swiss-like  houses,  crowd 
through  the  thronged  bazaars,  cross  the  bridge  thrown 
over  the  Jhelum,  pass  on  through  another  street,  and 
on  down  through  a  long  avenue  of  poplars,  to  a  gar- 


FROM   SHIRAZ   TO   CASHMERE.  365 

den  just  without  the  limits  of  the  city,  where  we 
pitch  our  tent  beneath  the  shade  of  the  mulberry- 
trees,  and  rejoice  that  the  goal  of  oui'  journeyings  is 
reached,  and  that  at  last  we  have  entered  the  "  Par- 
adise of  the  Indies." 

Bb 


306  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE   VALE    OF    CASHMERE    AND    ITS    RUINED    TEMPLES. 

Names  applied  to  the  Vale. — Moore's  "  Lalla  Rookh." — Beauties  of  the 
Valley. — Encircling  Mountains. — Passes.  —  Jhelum  River.  —  Lateral 
Valleys. — Avenues  of  Trees. — Akbar's  Visits. — Climate  of  the  Vale. 
— Vegetation. — Fruits. — Roses. — A  Sanatarium. — Given  up  by  the 
English  Government. — Influence  of  Scenery  on  National  Character. 
— Interesting  Ruins. — Temple  of  Martund. — Other  Temples. — Cash- 
merian  Traditions. — Serpent  Worship. — Hinduism. — Traces  of  Greek 
Art. — Spoliation  of  the  Ancient  Temples. 

"  If  woman  can  make  the  worst  wilderness  dear, 
What  a  heaven  she  must  make  of  Cashmere." 

"  Who  has  not  heard  of  the  Vale  of  Cashmere, 
With  its  roses  the  brightest  that  earth  ever  gave; 
Its  temples  and  grottoes,  and  fountains  as  clear 
As  the  love-lighted  eyes  that  hang  over  their  waves." 

— Lalki  RooTch. 

There  are  few  spots  in  the  world  so  famed  in 
song,  romance,  and  story  as  the  lovely  Vale  of  Cash- 
mere —  "  The  Unequaled,"  "  The  Happy  Valley," 
"The  Earthly  Elysium,"  "The  Slice  of  Heaven," 
"The  Paradise  of  the  Indies."  Moore's  "Lalla 
Rookh,"  redolent  with  the  intoxicating  aroma  of 
Oriental  delights,  has  given  the  spot  a  fame  wide- 
spread  as   sympathy  with   beauty,  love,  and   song, 


THE   VALE   OF   CASHMERE.  367 

and  thrown  over  the  vale  a  captivating  tinge  of 
romance. 

Nor  is  the  valley  in  its  natural  adornments  un- 
worthy of  the  praises  that  have  been  so  enthusiast- 
ically bestowed  upon  it.  It  is  a  beautiful  upland, 
mountain-environed  garden  or  park,  eighty  miles  in 
length  and  from  twenty  to  thirty  in  breadth,  sprink- 
led all  over,  like  an  English  landscape,  with  trees  and 
flowers,  and  diversified  with  river  and  lake,  with  vil- 
lages embo^vered  in  groves,  with  pasture-land  and  ir- 
rigated fields.  The  elevation  of  the  valley  above  the 
sea-level  varies,  at  different  points,  from  5900  to  5200 
feet  —  an  elevation  almost  equal  to  the  height  of 
Mount  Washinsfton. 

The  lofty  mountains  that  wall  in  the  valley  lend 
the  elements  of  grandeur  to  the  scenery.  All  along 
the  northwest  (the  vale  has  a  northwest  and  south- 
east direction)  the  mountains  form  a  gigantic  ram- 
part, about  fifteen  thousand  feet  in  height,  which 
from  across  the  valley  appears  almost  unbroken  by 
ravine,  and  level  as  a  wall — Andean-like,  save  in  its 
lack  of  a  Chimborazo.  For  the  greater  portion  of 
the  year  this  mountain-wall  is  loaded  with  snow. 
Upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  valley  the  summits  of 
the  mountains  are  broken  into  sharp  peaks,  and  their 
flanks  are  furrowed  by  deep  and  wide  ravines,  pre- 
sentino;  altosjether  a  strikino-  contrast  to  the  wall 
that  fronts  them.     The   Alps  and  the  Andes  here 


3(38  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

confront  each  other  face  to  face.  These  environing 
mountains  are  always  grand ;  but  when  in  the  early 
morning  or  at  evening  the  hidden  sun  flushes  their 
snow-fields  and  fires  their  whitened  peaks  they  dis- 
play a  rare  mingling  of  beauty  and  magnificence. 

There  are  about  a  dozen  practicable  passes  lead- 
ing over  these  mountain  -  barriers  into  the  valley ; 
but  all,  save  the  one  that  follows  up  the  course  of 
the  Jhelum  Kiver,  are,  like  the  one  by  which  we  en- 
tered, so  elevated  that  for  from  six  to  ten  mouths 
they  are  impassable  from  cold  and  snow.  Six  of 
these  passes  lead  from  the  plains  of  India;  while  the 
others  give  access  from  the  uplands  of  Thibet  on  the 
east,  and  Tartary  and  Russia  on  the  north. 

The  streams  born  amid  the  surrounding  mount- 
ains unite  to  form  the  Jhelum — the  Hydaspes  of  the 
Greeks — which  runs  the  entire  length  of  the  valley, 
formino;  at  its  lower  end  the  beautiful  Wular  Lake, 
and  then  bursts  thi'ough  the  mountain-barriers  and 
hurries  away  to  join  the  Indus.  This  river  and  lake 
create  some  of  the  most  attractive  features  of  the 
valley :  three  of  the  principal  cities — Cashmere,  Is- 
lamabad, and  Baramula — are  situated  upon  the  banks 
of  the  Jhelum ;  and  especially  in  the  case  of  the  first 
is  the  attractiveness  of  the  town  largely  indebted  to 
the  circumstance  of  its  river  site.  Tlie  Dul,  Avhich 
also  lends  its  charms  to  tlie  capital,  is  quite  a  lovely 
sheet  of  water,  especially 


THE   VALE   OF   CASHIilERE.  359 

"When  warm  o'er  the  lake 
It's  splendor  at  parting  a  summer  eve  throws." 

One  of  the  prettiest  features  of  the  Valley  of 
Cashmere  is  the  opening  into  it  of  lateral  vales, 
which,  commencing  as  wild  gorges  far  back  among 
the  mountains  and  up  amid  the  snows,  gradually  as- 
sume a  less  stern  and  wild  aspect  as  they  drop  down 
into  a  warmer  zone,  widening  out  before  they  reach 
the  Cashmerian  plain  into  lovely  vales,  whose  bot- 
toms, dotted  with  trees  and  villages,  slope  just  enough 
to  permit  the  eye  to  catch  the  whole  parterre  of  the 
successive  terraces  of  irrigated  fields,  as  it  is  led  up 
through  the  vista  of  the  retreating  ravine  to  the 
snowy  mountains  which  make  up  the  lofty  and  dis- 
tant background.  It  will  be  recalled  that  it  was  by 
such  a  valley,  leading  down  from  the  snowy  pass  of 
Pir  Punjal,  that  we  entered  Cashmere. 

Another  distinctive  feature  of  the  vale,  one  which 
Art  has  aided  Nature  in  giving  to  it,  is  the  stately 
avenues  of  trees,  and  the  noble  groves  and  pleasant 
gardens,  created  by  the  great  Moguls  of  India.  Ak- 
bar  took  possession  of  the  valley  in  1586,  and  the 
delights  of  the  spot  induced  him,  as  well  as  his  suc- 
cessors, to  select  it  as  a  summer  retreat  from  the  heats 
of  the  plains.  The  estimation  in  which  Akbar  held 
this  acquisition  may  be  gathered  from  the  following 
extract  from  a  letter,  quoted  by  Bernier,  written  by 
the  sovereign  to  his  minister  Abdullah  Khan :  "  I 


r,7() 


REMAINS   OF    LOST  EMPIRES. 


AVENUE   OF  POPLARS,  CASHMERE. 


myself  also  visited  that  happy  spot,  the  possession 
of  which  is  a  fresh  instance  of  the  divine  favor,  and 
I  offered  up  ray  praises  and  thanksgivings  to  the 
Supreme  Lord  of  all  things.  As  I  found  myself  de- 
lighted with  the  romantic  bowers  of  Cashmere,  the 
residence  of  pleasure,  I  made  an  excursion  to  the 
mountains  of  that  country  and  Thibet,  and  beheld, 


.    THE   VALE   OF   CASHMERE.  37I 

with  the  eyes  of  astonishment,  its  wonders  and  the 
pictures  of  Nature."  Again  he  writes :  "  I  visited  a 
second  time  that  ever-verdant  garden,  and  gratified 
my  mind  and  senses  with  the  beauties  of  that  luxu- 
riant spot." 

The  son  of  Akbar,  Jehangeer,  created  gardens, 
summer-houses,  and  palaces,  and  enjoyed  them  with 
his  lovely  consort,  Noor-Jehan.  Shah-Jehan  and 
Aurungzebe  each  added  to  the  ornaments  of  the 
valley..  The  most  beautiful  of  the  gardens  and 
groves  and  avenues  these  sovereigns  created  form 
the  embellishments  of  the  city  of  Cashmere,  and 
will  be  more  particularly  noticed  in  our  description 
of  the  capital. 

The  climate  of  Cashmere  is  very  like  that  of  Cen- 
tral New  York;  though,  being  so  completely  shut 
in  by  lofty  mountains,  the  heat  during  the  months 
of  July  and  August  is  somewhat  more  oppressive. 
During  the  winter  snow  falls  to  the  depth  of  sev- 
eral feet ;  and,  as  already  remarked,  the  higher  peaks, 
which  rise  to  an  elevation  of  from  sixteen  to  eighteen 
thousand  feet,  are  tipped  with  perpetual  suow^  But 
the  climate  of  the  valley  may,  perhaps,  be  best  in- 
dicated by  noting  the  vegetation.  One  might  be  led 
to  expect  a  sub-tropical  vegetation — a  mingling  of 
tropic  and  temperate  forms.  But  this  is  not  the 
case ;  the  vegetation  is  purely  such  as  characterizes 
a  temperate  climate.    The  ornamental  arboreal  forms 


372  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

occurring  in  the  valley  are  the  chenar,  or  Oriental 
plane-tree,  the  poplar,  the  willow,  cedar,  pine,  chest- 
nut, maple,  and  birch.  The  fruits  are  almost  like 
our  own :  the  wild  pomegranate,  apricot,  peach, 
plum,  cherry,  apple,  and  grape  are  all  common.  The 
generous  mulberry  blackens  the  ground  of  all  the 
gardens  with  its  superabundant  fruit.  Among  the 
cereals,  rice,  wheat,  maize,  buckwheat,  and  barley 
hold  the  most  prominent  places.  Tobacco  and  cot- 
ton are  successfully  cultivated  in  localities.  Among 
the  flowering  shrubs  the  rose  stands  conspicuous: 
when  we  entered  the  valley  (June  20th)  the  slopes 
of  the  hills  were  as  white  with  roses  as  our  orchards 
in  spring,  and  the  air  was  redolent  with  perfume. 
Many  of  the  species  assume  almost  arboreal  propor- 
tions; while  some  are  clinging  vines,  which  festoon 
the  trees  with  their  beautiful  garlands  of  roses — 

"  The  brightest  that  earth  ever  gave." 

White  is  a  favorite  color  with  these  Cashmerian 
beauties. 

The  entire  flora  of  the  vale  presents  a  striking 
similarity  to  our  Northern  series  of  plants :  many  of 
the  species  are  identical  with,  and  a  very  large  pro- 
portion generically  allied  to,  species  making  up  the 
flora  of  New  England.  Buttercups,  dandelions,  straw- 
berries, geraniums,  white  and  yellow  clover  are  scat- 
tered profusely  over  the  pasture-lands.  A  landscape 
diversified  ^\■ith  the  foi'est  and  fruit  trees  that  have 


THE   VALE   OF   CASH^IERE.  373 

been  mentioned,  and  besprinkled  with  these  familiar 
floral  forms,  might  easily  be  mistaken  for  a  bit  of 
New  England  scenery. 

The  Vale  of  Cashmere  is  one  of  the  favorite  sana- 
tarinms  of  the  Himalayas;  and  scores  of  English 
officials,  fleeing  the  burning,  stifling  plains  of  India, 
seek  a  refuge  here  amid  the  delights  of  fresh  vegeta- 
tion and  cool  mountain  air.  Throughout  the  summer 
months  the  gardens  of  Cashmere  present  the  appear- 
ance of  a  military  camp;  for  both  from  choice  and 
necessity  (for  Cashmerians  know  nothing  about  ho- 
tels) these  refugees  luxuriate  in  the  freedom  of  tent 
life.  Visiting  the  shops  of  the  shawl  merchants, 
boating  on  the  Jhelum,  and  hunting  bears  among  the 
mountains  are  the  favorite  employments  and  pastimes 
of  these  officers  "on  leave."  But  scarcely  has  the 
summer  passed  before  all  must  flee  the  valley;  for 
the  Maharajah  sufl*ers  no  foreigner  to  remain  within 
his  dominions  during  the  winter  months.  One  of  the 
most  stupid  and  consummate  pieces  of  folly  of  which 
the  English  Government  was  ever  guilty  was  in 
alienating  at  the  close  of  the  Sikh  war,  in  1846, -the 
entire  territory  of  Cashmere  to  Gholab  Sing,  for  the 
nominal  sum  of  £750,000.  We  never  conversed 
upon  this  subject  with  any  of  the  English  visitors 
to  the  valley  but  they  impatiently  stigmatized  the 
transaction  as  a  most  stupendous  blunder.  It  has 
been  apologized  for  by  those  who  would  have  the 


374  KEMAINS  OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

transaction  regarded  as  a  military  necessity,  and  who 
urge  that  this  portion  of  the  vast  territory  yielded 
to  the  English  by  the  Lahore  treaty  could  not  have 
been  taken  possession  of  and  held  without  the  em- 
ployment of  a  formidable  force.  But  the  truth  is, 
the  English  were  ignorant  of  what  they  were  bar- 
gaining away.  By  that  transfer,  and  by  the  stipula- 
tions of  that  treaty,  they  lost  control  of  one  of  the 
best  sanatariums  among  the  hills  of  India;  surren- 
dered the  best  bulwark  against  the  advance  of  any 
enemy  from  the  North ;  and,  more  to  be  dej)recated 
than  all,  sold  hundreds  of  thousands  of  natives 
back  into  an  ojipressive  and  degrading  slavery. 
Had  the  valley  at  that  time  passed  under  English 
rule,  there  would  now,  doubtless,  be  a  large  per- 
manent English  community  in  Cashmere;  and  the 
irrepressible  Saxon  spirit  of  enterprise  and  improve- 
ment would  have  transformed  the  vale  into  the 
most  attractive  spot  for  residence  in  the  East;  for 
Nature  has  bestowed  every  gift  upon  it — glorious 
views,  delightful  climate,  and  generous  soil,  with  ca- 
pabilities to  encourage  every  effort  at  improvement 
and  adornment. 

It  is  an  easy  transition  that  leads  us  now  to  ask, 
What  effect  have  the  surroundings  of  the  people  of 
this  vale  had  upon  them?  One  would  think  that 
here,  in  the  most  lovely  valley  God  ever  created,  with 
glory  and  sublimity  crowning  the   encircling  hills, 


THE  VALE   OF   CASHMERE.  3^5 

were  the  place  to  look  for  the  effects  of  scenery  upon 
a  people's  character.  But  here  we  must  be  careful 
and  not  confound,  as  is  often  done,  the  influences 
of  scenery  with  the  influences  of  conditions  of  life. 
Thus,  for  illustration,  the  inhabitants  of  mountain- 
ous countries  are  observed  to  be  characterized  by  a 
love  of  freedom  and  independence.  Ruskin  exclaims, 
"  They  have  caught  the  free,  wild  spirit  of  the  mount- 
ains !"  But  is  this  due  so  much  to  the  inspiration 
of  the  hills  as  to  the  impenetrability  of  the  lofty  and 
easily  defended  passes  to  their  mountain  home?  The 
nature  of  their  country  has  baflled  every  attempt  of 
the  oppressor  to  approach  and  lay  his  yoke  upon 
them.  These  mountaineers  have  come  to  know  no 
other  condition  of  life  save  that  of  unrestrained  free- 
dom ;  and  alongside  of  it  has  grown  up  a  love  for  it, 
and  an  impatient,  uncompromising  hatred  of  the  very 
name  of  servitude.  Thus  deserts  are  as  truly  the 
sanctuaries  of  liberty  as  mountains;  not  that  freedom 
enters  at  all  into  their  teachings,  but  because  their  in- 
hospitableness  ever  repels  the  advance  of  enslaving 
armies. 

With  this  single  caution  we  may  now  attend  to 
this  thought  of  Ruskin's,  which  we  will  find  some- 
what to  our  purpose :  "  We  have  found  mountains 
invariably  calculated  for  the  delight,  the  advantage, 
or  the  teaching  of  men ;  prepared,  it  seems,  so  as  to 
contain,  alike  in  fortitude  or  feebleness,  in  kindliness 


376  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

or  in  terror,  some  beneficence  of  gift  or  profoundness 
of  counsel."  Yes,  all  that  Ruskin  discovers  in  the 
mountains  is  theirs;  and  from  the  hills  God  has 
spoken  to  many  souls  with  a  fullness  of  instruction 
that  never  appeared  to  them  in  any  ordinance  of  his 
Word.  But  such  have  always  been  taught  first  by 
other  teachers  than  the  hills.  Nature  never  becomes 
man's  teacher  and  elevator  till  othei-  influences  and 
teachings  have  awakened  that  which  is  best  and 
purest  and  most  appreciative  of  lofty  thought  within 
him — till  the  ameliorated  conditions  of  his  life  aiford 
that  leisure  and  create  that  inclination  for  intellect- 
ual and  sesthetical  pursuits  which  are  the  necessary 
antecedents  to  the  discovery  of  "  beneficence  of  gift 
or  profoundness  of  counsel"  in  her  obscure  and  enig- 
matic teachings.  Indeed,  man,  already  debased,  left 
alone  with  Nature  is  almost  sure  of  further  degra- 
dation— moral  and  intellectual,  if  not  physical — if 
she  exhibit  much  harshness  and  apj)arent  lack  of 
sympathy  in  connection  with  intense  esthetic  ele- 
ments. In  mountainous  countries  these  are  her  char- 
acteristics which  most  prominently  obtrude  them- 
selves upon  those  forced  to  pass  thei.  lives  among 
the  hills;  with  them  they  come  most  constantly  in 
rude  contact;  and  tluis  it  comes  that  the  real  mount- 
aineer is  almost  certain  to  partake  in  his  chai-acter 
somewhat  of  the  stei'n  rudeness  of  liis  hardy  home. 
Read  this  passage  from  Ruskin,  witnessing  the  effects 


THE   VALE   OF   CASHIMERE.  377 

of  whicli  we  speak :  "  Here,  it  may  seem  to  him  [the 
traveler  of  the  Tyrol],  if  there  be  sometimes  hard- 
ship, there  must  be  at  least  innocence  and  peace,  and 
fellowship  of  the  human  soul  with  Nature.  It  is  not 
so.  The  wild  goats  that  leap  along  these  rocks  have 
as  much  passion  of  joy  in  all  that  fair  work  of  God 
as  the  men  that  toil  among  them."  Come  with  us 
up  among  the  mountains  which  overhang  the  Valley 
of  Cashmere ;  and  among  the  men  of  many  a  rude 
hamlet,  struggling  for  a  foothold  on  rugged  slopes, 
you  may  witness  for  yourself  the  truthfulness  of  all 
this.  The  harshness  of  the  straggle  which  these 
men  have  been  forced  to  maintain  with  Nature  has 
disinclined  them  to  receive  with  any  degree  of  pa- 
tience or  appreciation  her  "  profoundness  of  counsel." 
To  them  she  has  revealed  herself  only  as  a  hard,  un- 
sympathizing  master;  and  so  to  them  there  is  no 
"  passion  of  joy  "  in  her  fellowship. 

But  the  inhabitants  of  the  Vale  of  Cashmere  have 
not  felt  to  such  a  de2:ree  this  rouo;h  contact  with 
an  ungenerous  and  unsympathetic  Nature,  and  the 
kindlier  conditions  of  their  life  have  had  a  percepti- 
ble influenc  ,]apon  them.  The  Cashmerians,  notwith- 
standing, thv  discouraging  exactions  of  their  present 
rulers,  and  their  total  lack  of  sympathy  with  educa- 
tion and  culture,  exhibit  much  greater  industry  and 
intelligence  than  the  Indians  of  the  plains;  while 
centuries   ago,   before    Rome   had   lost   her    pristine 


378  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

vigor,  the  lofty  peaks  surrounding  the  valley  looked 
down  upon  a  civilization  which  existing  monuments 
compel  us  to  rank  with  that  of  the  Chaldsean,  As- 
syrian, and  Persian  empires.  To  an  examination  of 
these  intensely  interesting  architectural  memorials 
of  a  lost  civilization  we  will  devote  the  remainino; 
few  pages  of  this  chapter. 

About  thirty-five  miles  above  the  city  of  Cash- 
mere, upon  the  banks  of  the  Jhelum,  stands  the  little 
town  of  Islamabad,  thought  by  some  to  mark  the 
site  of  the  ancient  capital  of  the  kingdom  of  Cash- 
mere. Back  of  the  town  rises  a  prominent  table- 
land, and  surmounting  this  are  some  of  the  most 
remarkable  ruins  of  the  Eastern  world — remains  of 
a  lost  order  of  architecture  w^hich  rivals  that  of  the 
temples  of  Baalbec  or  Palmyra.  From  afar  the  eye 
is  attracted  by  the  prominent  dark-gray  mass  of 
ruins  outlining  themselves  against  the  green  hills 
that  rise  just  behind  them.  Upon  nearer  approach, 
the  position  of  the  ruins,  lying  in  heavy  masses  close 
along  the  base  of  the  overtopping  hills,  recalls  the 
Persepolitan  remains ;  and  then,  as  the  central  tem- 
ple detaches  itself  from  the  surrounding  ruins,  and 
towers  up  in  isolated  grandeur,  one  seems  again  be- 
fore the  Athenian  Parthenon.  Wonderful  as  are  the 
ruins  when  at  last  they  are  all  innnediately  before 
the  eye,  one  in\ oluntarily  turns  to  take  in  the  mag- 
nificent view  that  the  commandinir  site  of  the  tern- 


THE   VALE   OF   CASHJIERE.  379 

pie  affords.  The  entire  length  and  breadth  of  the 
beautiful  valley  is  displayed  at  once  to  the  sight; 
all  about,  the  lofty  walls  of  mountains  bear  up  the 
sky.  The  magnificent  situation  of  the  temple  may 
be  equaled  by  that  of  the  Parthenon ;  but  between 
Athens  and  Cashmere  there  was  not  another  temple 
of  antiquity  that  could  boast  of  such  a  site  as  the 
worshipers  of  the  "  famous  all-pervading  Sun  "  chose 
for  this  pre-eminent  Cashmerian  shrine. 

Respecting  the  solitariness  and  grandeur  of  the 
ruin,  Vigne  writes:  "As  an  isolated  ruin  this  de- 
serves, on  account  of  its  solitary  and  massive  grand- 
eur, to  be  ranked  not  only  as  the  first  ruin  of  the 
kind  in  Cashmere,  but  as  one  of  the  noblest  among 
the  architectural  relics  of  antiquity  that  are  to  be 
seen  in  any  country."  It  is  not  so  much  the  extent 
as  the  Egyptian  massiveness  of  the  ruins  that  excites 
the  greatest  astonishment.  Trebeck  asserts  that  in 
this  feature  they  are  not  surpassed  by  any  thing  on 
the  banks  of  the  Nile.  The  dimensions  of  the  shrine 
itself  are  not  great ;  but  throughout  it  exhibits  a  Cy- 
clopean solidity  of  construction  which  impressed  us 
as  deeply  as  any  thing  we  saw  amid  the  Pei'sepoli- 
tan  ruins.  The  accompanying  cut  will  give  the  gen- 
eral external  appearance  of  the  building.  Within  it 
is  divided  into  three  chambers,  the  innermost  of 
which,  the  sanctum  sanctorum^  is  perfectly  free  from 
ornamentation  of  any  kind ;  for  the  reason,  as  Cun- 


380 


REMAINS   OF  LOST   EMPIRES. 


RUINS   OF   THE   TEMPLE   OF   MAIITUND. 

ningham  suggests,  that  the  tlioiights  of  the  worship- 
er might  not  be  led  away  while  engaged  in  devotion. 
The  heavy  pyramidal  stone  roof  has  fallen,  but  oth- 


THE  VALE   OF   CASHilERE.  3S1 

erwise  the  edifice  is  remarkably  preserved,  the  mass- 
iveness  of  its  walls  having  enabled  it  to  resist  the 
destructive  assaults  of  both  time  and  man.  The  ma- 
terial used  in  the  construction  of  the  building  is  a 
dark -blue  limestone,  susceptible  of  a  high  polish. 
The  doorways,  windows,  and  niches  for  the  reception 
of  idols  are  finely  polished  or  intricately  sculj)tured. 
Uj)on  either  side  of  the  central  building  stands  a 
smaller  temple,  which  constitutes,  as  it  were,  a  wing 
to  the  main  structure. 

Inclosing  this  mass  of  buildings  is  a  porticoed 
wall,  forming  a  magnificent  court,  about  two  hundred 
feet  in  leu2:th  and  almost  the  same  in  breadth.  The 
pillars  of  the  colonnade  are  fluted,  and: — in  sti'iking 
contrast  to  the  columns  employed  in  the  Hindu 
buildings  in  India — exhibit  classically  correct  and 
graceful  proportions.  Considerable  portions  of  the 
wall  and  colonnade  are  prostrate,  and  enormous 
sculptured  blocks,  columns,  and  fragments  of  the 
architrave  lie  scattered  around.  The  gateway  of  the 
court  and  the  entrance  to  the  temple  front  the  west, 
as  if  to  catch  the  last  rays  of  the  setting  sun,  and  to 
permit  them  to  fall  upon  the  sacred  symbols  of  the 
shrine.  No  tree  casts  its  shadow  over  the  temple; 
but  brambles  and  thorns  spring  up  amid  the  ruins. 
Not  a  single  worshiper  falls  in  adoration  before 
the  emblems  of  divinity ;  yet  the  idols  still  fill 
the   niches   where   placed    so   many   centuries    ago, 

Cc 


382 


REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIEES. 


though  now  they  look  out  only  on  neglect  and  for- 
getfulness. 

Although  the  temple  of  Martund  is  the  most  im- 
posing of  Cashmerian  architectural  monuments,  yet 
among  the  fifteen  or  twenty  other  temples  found  in 
different  parts  of  the  valley  are  many  in  a  still  more 
wonderful  state  of  preservation.  The  annexed  cut  is 
from  a  sketch  of  the  Pandrenton  temple,  a  perfect  lit- 


PANDRENTON  TEMPLE. 


tie  gem,  standing  near  the  Jhelum,  only  two  or  three 
miles  from  the  city  of  Cashmere.  It  stands  in  an 
artificial  tank  of  water,  so  as  to  be  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Nagas,  the  half  human  and  half  dragon 
gods  who  were  conspicuous  in  the  Pantheon  of  the 
early  Cashmerians. 

Perched  upon  a  lofty  spur  of  the  mountain  tliat 
overhangs  the  city  of  Cashmere  is  another  temple, 
octagonal  in  form,  called  by  the  natives  Takt-i-Suli- 
man,  the  "  Throne  of  Solomon,"  because  they  believe 


THE  VALE   OF   CASHJIERE.  3g3 

it  to  have  been  erected  by  him  during  one  of  his 
traditional  visits  to  the  valley;  for  the  legends  of 
the  Cashmerians,  with  a  pardonable  egotisticaluess, 
represent  most  of  the  great  personages  of  early  times 
as  making  frequent  pilgrimages  to  this  j^aradise  of 
the  Indies.  The  other  temples  scattered  throughout 
the  valley,  and  up  among  the  lateral  vales,  repeat, 
with  no  essential  variations,  the  architectural  char- 
acteristics of  the  "  wonderful  Martund "  or  the  beau- 
tiful Pandrenton,  so  that  they  do  not  call  for  special 
description. 

After  having  surveyed  these  remarkable  ruins, 
lying  in  this  isolated  valley,  buried  deep  among  the 
Himalayas,  the  very  first  inquiry  is.  When  and  by 
whom  were  these  temples  built?  .The  traditionary 
records  of  the  Cashmerians,  largely  tinctured  with 
Hindu  extravagance,  tell  wondrous  stories  of  the 
residence  and  achievements  of  Adam,  Seth,  Moses, 
and  Solomon  in  the  valley.  For  the  construction  of 
the  Martund  temple  these  traditions  call  in  the  aid 
of  the  Pandus,  who  in  Oriental  mythology  corre- 
spond to  the  Cyclops  of  the  Western  classics.  But 
there  are  trustworthy  chronicles  which  cast  a  less 
uncertain  light  upon  that  portion  of  Cashmerian  his- 
tory in  which  w^e  are  interested.  In  an  "Essay  on 
the  Aryan  Order  of  iVrchitecture,"  by  Captain  A.  C. 
Cunningham,  published  in  the  "  Journal  of  the  Asiatic 
Society,"  vol.  xvii.,  the  subject  of  the  antiquity  of  the 


384  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

Cashmerian  temples  is  ably  investigated,  and  they 
are  found  to  range  all  along  from  the  third  century 
B.C.  to  the  tenth  century  of  our  era.  The  Takt-i- 
Suliman  was  erected  by  Jaloka,  son  of  Asoka,  220 
B.C.  At  that  time  it  seems  that  a  sort  of  snake  or 
dragon  worship  prevailed  in  the  valley ;  and  this 
symbol  frequently  appears  in  the  temples  of  that  era. 
An  intelligent  Scotch  missionary,  ^vhom  we  met  at 
Cashmere,  and  who  had  examined  with  some  care 
the  ruins  in  the  valley,  was  strongly  convinced  that 
in  this  serpent-worship  we  find  a  lingering  remem- 
brance of  the  circumstances  of  the  Fall ;  yet  we  were 
unable  to  learn  that  any  peculiar  accessories  of  the 
Cashmerian  worship  caused  it  to  point  with  greater 
certainty  to  such  a  conjecture  than  the  many  other 
instances  of  early  serpent- worship  among  the  tribes 
of  the  different  continents. 

The  temple  of  Martund  (we  follow  the  authority 
of  Cunningham)  was  built  about  A.D.  400,  at  which 
time  the  Hindu  religion  must  have  flourished  in  the 
valley  of  Cashmere ;  for  the  niches  still  hold  the 
Hindu  triad  and  the  different  statues  of  Hindu  my- 
thology. In  other  words,  it  was  sacred  to  the  Sun, 
the  same  as  the  famous  temples  at  Baalbec  and  Pal- 
myra; for  the  Hindu  triad  is  simply  emblematic  of 
the  Sun, "  who  was  Brahma,  or  the  Creator,  at  morn- 
ing; Vishnu,  or  the  Preserver,  at  noon  ;  and  Siva,  or 
the  Destroyer,  at  even."    It  would  be  hard  to  tell  how 


THE   VALE   OF   CASH:MERE.  335 

much  of  different  systems  of  worship  is  condensed 
and  vaguely  symbolized  in  that  "  mystic  orb  tri- 
form" of  Hindu  mythology;  some  have  thought  to 
find  in  it  a  reflection  of  the  Christian  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity ;  and  certain  it  is  that  it  embodies,  however 
modified  and  obscured,  the  central  idea  of  the  Sabian 
worship.  That  the  Martuud  temple  was  dedicated 
to  the  Sun  is  also  according  to  the  Raja  Zarangini, 
which  contains  passages  wherein  the  edifice  is  de- 
clared sacred  to  the  "famous  all  -  pervading  Sun." 
Cunningham  discovered  additional  evidence  of  this 
in  certain  architectural  features  of  the  building  itself 
Thus,  for  illustration,  he  observes  that  the  number  of 
pillars  of  the  court  is  eighty-four,  a  number  sym- 
bolic of  the  Sun,  being  the  product  of  the  number 
of  the  zodiacal  symbols,  and  the  number  of  steeds 
that  drew  the  fiery  chariot  of  the  deity. 

But  the  most  interesting  fact  respecting  the  Cash- 
merian  temples  is  the  traces  which  they  exhibit  of 
Greek  art.  They  are  quite  unlike  the  structures  of 
India,  resembling  them  scarcely  in  any  thing  save  in 
the  repetition  of  conventional  proportions;  while  a 
large  number  of  the  most  important  architectur- 
al features  are  borrowed  from  the  Greeks.  Thus 
at  Martund  the  porch,  pronaos,  and  naos  of  the 
Greeks  are  reproduced  in  the  vestibule,  the  central 
and  the  innermost  chamber  of  the  temple.  The 
Greek  pediment  and  roof  also  form  a  characteristic 


386  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

feature  of  the  Caslimerian  temple ;  but,  to  adapt  it- 
self to  the  climate  of  the  valley,  where  heavy  snows 
often  fiill,  the  low,  flat  roof  of  the  classic  style  be- 
comes higher  and  steeper,  and  thus  pyramidal  in 
shape.  The  pillars,  too,  unlike  those  of  the  Indian 
temples  of  the  plains,  have  base,  shaft,  and  capital 
distinct;  and,  moreover,  exhibit  exactly  those  pro- 
portions to  the  diameter  of  shaft  as  adopted  by  the 
Greek  artists. 

That  Cashmerian  art  thus  felt  the  influence  of 
Grecian  there  is  no  doubt;  and  this  contact  doubt- 
less occurred  at  a  period  not  long  subsequent  to  the 
Macedonian  conquests  in  Asia.  200  B.C.  the  Cabul 
valley  and  portions  of  Western  India  were  held  by 
the  Greeks;  and  many  interesting  relics  of  Greek 
art  are  constantly  being  discovered  at  the  present 
time  in  the  Punjab.  The  museum  at  Lahore  con- 
tains many  Grecian  statues  that  have  been  exhumed 
in  the  surroundino;  districts.  Throuo-h  these  Bactrian 
Greeks  the  Cashmerians  became  acquainted  with  the 
most  classic  type  of  the  architecture  of  the  Western 
nations,  and  at  once  adopted  many  of  its  features  into 
their  sacred  edifices.  Possibly  some  of  the  Cashme- 
rian temples  were  actually  designed  by  Greek  artists. 

The  first  Mohammedan  kimx  that  rei^^ned  in  Cash- 
mere  seized  the  throne  of  the  little  kino:dom  in  A.D. 
1341,  and  was  followed  by  Sikunder,  the  "  iconoclast," 
who  destroyed  many  of  the  temples  of  the  idolatrous 


THE  VALE   OF   CASH^EERE.  387 

Hindus.  To-day  Mohammedanism  and  Buddhism 
hold  sway  in  the  valley,  and  there  is  not  a  hand  to 
protect  from  spoliation  the  once  beautiful  temples  of 
the  ancient  faith,  which  are  pulled  down,  and  their 
labor-wrought  stones  built  into  mosques  or  Buddhist 
temples.  From  many  a  modern  wall  in  the  city  of 
Cashmere  project  beautifully  sculptured  stones  stolen 
from  some  ancient  shrine. 


388  REIVIAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE     CITY     OF     CASHMERE. 

Situation. — General  Appearance. — Buildings. — Canal  Streets. — Boats. 
— River  Scenes. — English  Stores. — Bridges. — Maharajah's  Palace. — 
Swiss  and  Venetian  Scenes. — English  Visitors.— An  Official's  Barge. 
— Cashmerian  Amazons. — Bathers. — Relics. — Wood  from  the  Mount- 
ains.— Jumna  Meshjed.  —  Maharajah's  Bazaar.  —  Below  the  City. — 
Citadel.  —  Night  on  the  River. — An  Eastern  Venice. — Gardens  of 
Cashmere. — Shalimar  Bagh. — Nishat  Bagh. — Isle  of  Chenars. — Float- 
ing Gardens. — Population  of  Cashmere. — People. — Effects  of  Cli- 
mate on  Complexion.  —  Dress.  —  Character.  —  Women.  —  Thomas 
Moore. — Manufactures. — Shawls. — Nature  as  a  Teacher. 

The  city  of  Cashmere,^"  tlie  "  Eastern  Venice,"  is 
built,  as  already  observed,  upon  the  Jhelum  f  River, 
at  about  its  middle  course  througli  the  valley,  and  at 
a  point  where  it  flows  close  to  the  base  of  the  north- 
east mountain -wall.  The  city  presents  a  strange 
mingling  of  Swiss  and  Venetian  picturesqueness  and 
Oriental  shabbiness.  The  Swiss  element  is  lent  by 
the  style  of  architecture ;  the  river,  which  forms  one 
grand  canal  through  the  city,  and  branches  off  into 

*  Tlic  ortliograjjliical  forms  of  this  word  are  legion.  It  is  written  in- 
differently Cashmere,  Cashmirc,  Cachemirc,  Cashmir,  Kashmir,  Kachc- 
mir,  Kaclimir,  or  Kasehmir.  AVe  have  adopted  the  form  most  familiar 
to  the  English  eye.    The  native  name  for  the  city  is  Serinagur. 

t  In  the  Cashmerian  language  this  stream  is  called  the  Bchut ;  in 
Sanscrit,  Vedasta.     The  Greeks  knew  it  as  the  Hydaspes. 


THE   CITY   OF   CASKMERE.  389 

many  smaller  cliannels,  all  of  which  swarm  with  na- 
tive boats,  plying  hither  and  thither  like  so  many 
gondolas,  recalls  the  Italian  "  City  of  the  Sea ;"  while 
the  neglect  which  allows  the  buildings  to  assume 
all  degrees  of  inclination,  and  to  hang  over  the  ca- 
nals in  all  sorts  of  startling  attitudes — this,  with  the 
costume  of  the  thronged  bazaars,  gives  the  whole  an 
unmistakably  Oriental  cast. 

Though  stone  and  sun-dried  and  fire-burnt  brick 
are  employed  to  some  extent  as  building  material, 
by  far  the  larger  proportion  of  the  houses  are  con- 
structed of  wood,  and  are  from  one  to  four  stories  in 
height.  Thev  have  either  flat  or  double  -  slopins; 
roofs,  thatched  with  reeds,  or  shingled  or  turfed.  The 
fronts  of  the  buildings  are  often  embellished  with 
ornamental  tracery,  in  close  mimicry  of  Swiss  carv- 
ings. The  windows  are  unfurnished  with  glass,  but 
are  picturesquely  latticed,  and  frequently  open  upon 
balconies  that  overhang  the  canals.  The  architect- 
ure of  the  city  impresses  the  traveler  from  Syria,  Tur- 
key, or  Persia  somewhat  strangely  at  first ;  because, 
being  essentially  a  wood-constructed  city,  it  necessa- 
rily presents  a  very  different  appearance  from  the 
mud-built  villag-es'  of  the  Arabs  and  Persians.  It 
takes  the  traveler  away  back  to  Switzerland  again; 
for  there  alone  does  he  find  any  thing  with  which 
he  may  compare  it.  In  interior  ornamentation,  Per- 
sian art,  it  seems  to  us,  has  had  its  influence  upon 


390  KEMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

Cashmerian :  pigments  are  generally  employed,  as  at 
Shiraz,  to  embellish  the  walls  and  ceilings,  while  the 
dwellings  of  the  wealthier  class  have  imparted  to 
their  chambers  a  rich  though  somewhat  tawdry  ap- 
pearance by  profuse  gilding. 

The  Jhelum  River,  which  bears  the  same  relation 
to  Cashmere  that  the  Grand  Canal  does  to  Venice, 
is  in  its  passage  through  the  city  about  a  hundred 
yards  in  breadth.  The  fronts  of  the  houses  along  its 
course  rise  directly  from  the  water,  the  same  as  in 
the  Italian  city.  Seven  bridges  span  the  stream,  and 
unite  the  two  principal  divisions  of  the  town.  This 
river  is  the  Broadway  of  Cashmere,  being  the  prin- 
cipal thoroughfare  for  both  traffic  and  pleasure. 

Let  us  take  a  boat  in  the  upper  part  of  the  city, 
and  float  down  this  Grand  Canal,  and  explore  this 
Eastern  Venice.  We  will  choose  the  late  afternoon, 
two  or  three  hours  before  sunset ;  not  that  any  por- 
tion of  the  day  would  be  too  oppressively  warm,  but 
because  the  river  scene  will  then  be  liveliest,  and 
also  as  that  hour  will  bring  us  to  the  lower  portion 
of  the  city  just  at  the  close  of  the  day,  so  that  our 
return  will  be  in  the  edge  of  the  evening,  when  hun- 
dreds of  lights  will  be  glimmering,  Venetian -like, 
alonfif  the  banks  of  the  canal-street. 

Leaving  our  tent,  we  walk  beneath  the  mulberry- 
trees  a  few  hundred  yards  to  the  bank  of  the  river, 
where  we  are  immediately  beset  by  a  score  of  boat- 


THE   CITY   OF   CASHIMERE.  39I 

men.  "  Big  boat,  sahib  !"  "  Little  boat,  sabib  !"  iter- 
ated and  reiterated  on  all  sides,  creates  a  sort  of 
English  atmosphere  about  us,  and  for  a  moment  be- 
trays us  into  the  belief  that  we  are  in  the  midst  of 
an  English-speaking  community.  We  address  our- 
selves to  one  :  "  How  much  for  your  boat  ?"  "  Big 
boat,  sahib  !"  "  We  don't  care  how  big  your  boat  is ; 
how  much  do  you  want  for  taking  us  to  the  lower 
end  of  the  city  and  back  ?"  "  Big,  h-i-g  boat,  sahib  !" 
At  this  moment  Mohammed  (our  interpreter)  comes 
up,  and  seeing  disgust  depicted  upon  our  counte- 
nances, tells  us,  as  we  have  already  discovered, "Them 
Inglee  no  talk."  Throuo;h  Mohammed's  mediation 
a  boat  is  quickly  engaged — a  "little  boat,"  as  the 
passage  back  against  the  ciu'rent,  Mohammed  assures 
us,  can  be  made  much  more  easily  in  such  than  with 
a  large  one.  Our  boat  is  about  fifty  feet  in  length, 
and  six  feet  wide  in  the  middle,  being  built  with 
slender  bow  and  stern.  About  one  third  of  the  length 
is  covered  with  a  roof  of  mats,  to  afford  protection 
from  sun  and  rain.  The  larger  and  more  unwieldly 
boats  about  us  are  from  sixty  to  eighty  feet  in 
length,  and  of  corresponding  breadth.  As  is  the  case 
in  many  Chinese  cities,  these  boats  constitute  the 
only  summer  home  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
population  of  Cashmere.  They  are  arranged  with 
the  few  conveniences  a  native  family  requires,  so  that 
all  the  operations  of  the  household  are  carried  on 
upon  the  boat. 


392  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

As  we  enter,  the  women  snatcli  up  their  spinning- 
wheels  and  miscellaneous  articles,  and  hurry  them 
into  the  'kitchen — the  stern  of  the  boat.  Neat  mats 
are  spread,  and  bolsters  placed  upon  them,  so  that 
we  may  assume  a  comfortable  recumbent  position. 
Four  men  take  their  places  at  the  paddles — regular 
Indian  paddles — and  one  of  the  women  seats  herself 
in  the  stern,  with  a  paddle  for  a  rudder.  And  now 
our  fully  equipped  Cashmerian  gondola  shoots  fi'om 
the  bank,  and  we  are  out  upon  the  middle  stream. 

Before  we  are  really  within  the  city,  just  turn  and 
look  up  the  stream.  Any  city  might  well  be  proud 
of  such  a  river  view.  Those  venerable  chenars  and 
poplars  and  willows  fringing  the  banks  and  stretch- 
ing back  from  the  wat^r  in  noble  vistas,  and  the 
rugged  hills  beyond,  rising  abruptly,  wall-like,  half 
way  up  the  heavens,  make  up  a  view  at  once  rarely 
picturesque  and  grand. 

But  now  our  eyes  are  needed  to  observe  what  is 
shooting  past  us.  Here,  on  our  right,  are  several 
small,  uninviting,  two-storied  bungalows,  erected  for 
the  accommodation  of  English  visitors ;  for  Cashmere, 
as  already  seen,  is  a  favorite  summer  sanatarium. 
These  buildings  are  unfurnished,  and  may  be  taken 
possession  of  by  any  one  who  finds  them  unoccupied. 
The  surrounding  grove  is  filled  with  tents ;  for  trav- 
elers prefer  camping  out  to  taking  quarters  in  the 
wretched  bungalows.    Tent  life  in  Cashmere,  too,  has 


THE    CITY   OF   CASHJUERE. 


393 


VIEW   OP   THE   JHELUM   ABOVE   CASHMERE. 

just  the  same  charms  as  "Tent  life  in  the  Holy  Land." 
And  here,  fronting  the  river,  is  an  English  shop, 
which  is  open  during  the  "  season,"  from  April  to 
November,  for  the  "  benefit "  of  English  travelers — 
and,  after  pricing  some  of  their  M^ares,  we  may  safely 
infer  for  the  benefit  of  the  proprietors  also. 

Some  fine  buildings  on  the  left  bank  now  attract 
our  attention,  and  immediately  we  are  drifted  beneath 


394  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

the  first  of  the  seven  bridges  that  span  the  river. 
The  piers  of  the  structure  are  built  of  logs,  the  alter- 
nate layers  crossing  each  other,  just  as  lumber  is  oft- 
en piled.  These  piers,  narrow  at  the  river  level, 
grow  wider  as  they  rise,  by  the  use  of  longer  timbers, 
and  thus  gradually  approach  so  near  to  one  another 
that  the  remaining  space  is  easily  spanned. 

Between  this  bridaje  and  the  fourth  all  fishins:  is 
prohibited.  Why  ?  Because  the  natives  believe  that 
Ghoolab  Singh,  a  former  Maharajah  of  Cashmere,  is 
now  a  fish,  and  lurking  in  these  waters  !  Just  below 
the  bridge,  on  the  left  bank,  stands  the  palace  of 
the  present  Maharajah,  an  infamous  tyrant,  who  ought 
also  to  be  in  the  river,  without  any  interdiction 
upon  the  natives'  fishing.  It  is  not  a  very  imjDosing 
structure,  surely,  for  a  royal  residence ;  but  the  gild- 
ed dome  of  the  royal  temple,  which  glistens  amid  the 
mass  of  buildings,  suggests  that  we  may  find  grand- 
eur within.  So,  stopping  our  gondola,  we  mount  the 
stone  steps,  and  by  an  obsequious,  white -gowned 
and  turbaned  usher  are  led  into  a  large  hall,  the 
most  magnificent  chamber  of  the  palace.  It  is  a  lofty, 
gorgeously  painted  and  gilded  apartment,  the  minute- 
ness of  the  patterns  and  the  delicate  lightness  of  the 
columns  suggesting  Moorish  art.  Tawdriness,  how- 
ever, takes  too  much  the  place  of  chasteness. 

Re-entering  our  boat,  we  continue  on  down  the 
river,  between  lines  of  buildings  rising  directly  from 


THE   CITY   OF   CASHMERE.  395 

tlie  water.  Some  project  over  the  stream,  and  are 
propped  up  by  slender  poles,  wliicli  seem  just  ready 
to  precipitate  their  burdens  into  the  river.  Some  of 
the  fronts  are  artistically  carved,  while  others  are 
fiintastically  painted ;  not  with  such  heraldic  designs 
as  are  borne  by  the  palatial  fronts  along  the  Grand 
Canal  of  the  Venetian  city,  yet  still,  as  we  glide  past, 
not  only  are  those  olden  palaces  recalled,  but  for  the 
moment  we  can  scarcely  divest  ourselves  of  the  im- 
pression that  we  are  again  upon  the  canals  of  Ven- 
ice. And  the  scores  of  boats  gliding  hither  and 
thither  help  wondrously  to  sustain  the  illusion.  Here 
is  one  just  passing  with  an  English  lady — we  touch 
our  hats,  for  it  is  the  missionary,  the  good  Dr.  Elms- 
lie's  wife;  and  here  is  another  boat  containing  two  En- 
glish gentlewomen— ^and  now  we  have  met  just  half 
of  the  English  ladies  in  Cashmere.  Anglo-Indian 
gentlemen  are  more  numerous — one,  two,  five  boats 
pass  us  before  we  reach  the  third  bridge,  each  bear- 
ing two  Englishmen,  lolling  comfortably  amid  their 
bolsters.  Some  are  reading  their  newspapers.  What ! 
the  Cashmere  Daily  Gra^yldc  f  No,  not  exactly,  but 
the  India  papers  from  Lahore,  Bombay,  and  Calcutta, 
brought  up  by  post. 

But  here  is  something  more  purely  native — a  gai- 
ly painted  barge,  with  surmounting  canopy,  beneath 
which  are  squatted  some  high  Cashmerian  officials, 
in  white  robes  and  trim  turbans.     A  score  of  rowers 

Dd 


396  REMAINS    OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

dip  their  paddles  witli  a  sort  of  rLythmic  movement, 
changing  at  short  intervals  from  quick  to  slow 
strokes,  under  the  impulse  of  which  the  barge  shoots 
by  us  like  an  arrow. 

And  here  is  another  scene  quite  different — but 
things  are  always  strangely  mingled  in  the  East. 
This  smaller  boat  attracting  our  attention  has  but  a 
single  rower — a  woman,  a  perfect  Amazon — sitting- 
cross-legged  ujoon  the  bow,  "paddling  her  own  ca- 
noe." But  that  is  not  at  all  unusual.  Here  is  an- 
other common  scene — a  loaded  barge  with  another 
disheveled,  sun -burnt,  herculean  Amazon,  bare -foot- 
ed and  bare-headed,  mounted  upon  the  stern  of  the 
boat,  with  a  great  pole  in  her  hands,  shouting  orders 
with  the  voice  of  Stentor  to  a  crew  of  half  a  dozen 
swarthy  men,  while  she  makes  the  entire  craft  leap 
frantically  with  the  mighty  sweeps  and  lunges  of 
her  pole.  This  is  one  of  Moore's  sweet  angels  with 
"  love-lighted  eyes  that  hang  over  the  waves." 

At  different  intervals  we  observe  stone  steps  lead- 
ing down  to  the  water,  all  thronged  with  maiden 
water-carriers,  and  with  bathers  of  both  sexes,  for 
bathing  is  rather  a  promiscuous,  Japanese  affair  here 
in  Cashmere.  We  notice  now  and  then  some  richly 
sculptured  blocks  of  stone  built  into  the  walls  along 
the  river,  relics  of  a  by-gone  magnificence.  But  no- 
tice this  pile  of  logs,  or  rather  short  sections  of  large 
trees — firs  we  should  judge,  but  that  is  difficult  to 


THE   CITY   OF   CASHMERE.  397 

determine,  for  tlie  bark  of  each  piece  is  bruised  off, 
aud  the  ends  battered  as  though  the  section  had 
done  rough  service  as  a  maul  or  beetle.  Our  curios- 
ity is  excited,  and  we  turn  to  Mohammed.  "  Moham- 
med, what  have  the  people  been  doing  with  these 
blocks  ?"  "  Them  is  wood,  sahib ;  got  way  up  yon- 
der in  the  hills."  That  is  sufficient  ex2:)lanation  for 
their  appearance.  Wood  is  somewhat  scarce  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  capital,  and  the  natives  go 
into  the  heavy  forest  high  up  among  the  mountains, 
and  felling  the  trees,  and  cutting  them  into  short  sec- 
tions that  they  may  not  lodge  in  the  stream,  tumble 
them  into  the  torrent;  the  battered  appearance  of 
these  blocks  tells  of  the  nature  of  their  voyage  down 
to  the  valley. 

Let  us  row  a  little  way  up  this  side  channel.  The 
buildings  are  in  a  fearfully  ruinous  condition,  and 
hang  over  the  water  in  the  most  reckless  manner. 
A  little  way  up  this  narrow  water-street  we  find 
scores  of  boats  moored  for  the  night  along  the  bank. 
We  land  and  walk  up  a  narrow,  crooked  street,  in 
order  to  find  the  Jumna  Meshjed,  an  old  dilapidated 
mosque,  an  immense  structure,  which,  it  is  said,  will 
hold  sixty  thousand  people.  Four  times  it  has  been 
destroyed  by  fire ;  it  was  last  repaired  by  the  Mogul 
sovereign  Aurungzebe.  It  is  a  large  quadrangular 
building,  constructed  about  a  square  court,  and  is 
surmounted  by  four  low  spires.     It  is  neglected  and 


398  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

desecrated — Mohammedanism,  decaying  every  where 
else,  languishes  also  even  in  this  "  earthly  paradise." 

Returning  to  our  boat,  we  glide  back  into  the 
main  canal,  and  continue  our  interrupted  course  down 
the  river.  We  row  slowly  by  the  Maharajah's  ba- 
zaar, the  only  one  in  the  city  which  fronts  the  river, 
and  which  always  presents  a  lively  and  attractive  ap- 
pearance, pass  several  small  Hindu  temj)les,  shoot 
beneath  a  number  of  bridges,  and,  after  gliding  be- 
tween long  rows  of  buildings,  at  length  emerge  with 
the  river  from  the  city,  after  a  float  of  about  three 
miles,  and  find  ourselves  in  the  open  country,  with 
an  English  landscape  spread  all  around  us. 

Our  return  is  slow,  as  our  paddlers  have  to  con- 
tend with  a  strong  cun-ent.  As  the  evening  prom- 
ises a  good  view,  we  land,  before  halfway  back,  at 
a  little  pier  up  the  right  bank,  and  feel  our  way 
through  a  labyrinth  of  streets  to  the  citadel,  posted 
on  an  isolated  basaltic  mound,  four  or  five  hundred 
feet  in  height,  which  rises  abruptly  from  the  plain 
in  the  northeast  portion  of  the  city.  The  hill  is  en- 
circled at  its  base  by  a  heavy  wall,  and  the  crown- 
ing fortifications  are  defended  by  several  respectable 
pieces  of  artillery.  The  view  from  f-^  walls  of  the 
fort  well  repays  our  climb.  The  ceL  'al  portion  of 
the  town  presents  a  dense  brown  m-^  of  buildings, 
but  the  suburbs  are  lost  in  the  gro\es  that  invest 
the  city.     The  Jhelum  River  enters  the  city  away  to 


THE   CITY   OF   CASmiERE.  399 

the  soiitli,  and  issues  to  pursue  its  tortuous  course  to 
the  distant  Wular  Lake.  The  northeast  portion  of 
the  town  is  so  intersected  by  canals  that  a  thorough- 
ly Venetian  character  is  given  to  it,  the  buildings 
seemine  to  rise  from  the  waters  of  a  lake.  Just 
across  the  Dul — the  "sunny  lake  of  cool  Cashmere" 
— lie  several  of  the  famous  royal  gardens  of  Cash- 
mere, created  by  the  Mogul  sovereigns;  and  not  far 
from  the  citadel  mound  itself,  rising  from  a  vast  reedy 
marsh,  is  a  beautiful  wooded  islet,  celebrated  by  Moore 
as  "The  plane-tree  isle  reflected  clear."  All  about, 
the  mountains  gird  the  valley  with  their  lofty  snowy 
ramparts,  which,  all  ablaze  with  the  glory  of  the 
west,  form  a  fitting  crown  to  the  beauties  of  the 
vale. 

By  the  time  we  regain  our  boat  the  lights  begin 
to  glimmer  along  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  before 
we  reach  the  gardens  above  the  city  are  forming 
hundreds  of  long,  shattered  reflections  in  the  water. 
Now  that  the  darkness  hides  and  the  starlight  trans- 
forms, we  are  in  Venice  again :  this  wide  stream, 
lined  with  glittering  rows  of  light,  is  the  Grand  Ca- 
nal; these  boats  gliding  past  are  gondolas;  those 
ill-defined  ma'  ,^es  of  buildings  are  the  olden  palaces. 
Yes,  this  is  V  nice ;  and  we  lean  back  upon  our  pil- 
lowed divans  i^nd  give  ourselves  up  to  the  pleasing 
illusion.  ,  . 

As  we  approach  the  ga-rdens  and  clear  the  build- 


400  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

ings,  the  lofty  heights  of  the  mountains  appear,  traced 
on  the  sky  half-way  up  from  the  horizon,  Venice ! 
did  you  say  we  were  in  Venice?  See  these  mount- 
ains heaping  themselves  Pelion-upon-Ossa-like  almost 
to  the  zenith.  We  are  among  the  Himalayas.  We 
took  our  last  row  on  the  Grand  Canal,  and  bade  a 
last  farewell  to  the  City  of  the  Sea,  long,  long  ago. 
Well,  'tis  another  Venice,  then,  and  quite  as  romantic 
and  fascinating  for  being  up  here  a  mile  or  more  in 
the  air,  and  set  about  with  these  noble  mountains. 
With  all  this  running  through  our  heads  as  we  fling 
ourselves  beneath  our  tent  under  the  mulberry-trees, 
we  need  not  wonder  if,  in  the  vagaries  of  sleep,  we 
see  strange  confusions  of  Doges'  and  Maharajahs'  pal- 
aces, of  cathedrals  and  temples,  of  cam^Daniles  and 
minarets,  of  gondolas  and  Cashmerian  barges,  of  low, 
level  horizons  of  water  and  sky,  and  lofty,  ragged 
horizons  of  hills  and  clouds. 

The  gardens  of  Cashmere  form  one  of  the  attrac- 
tions  of  the  capital.  Besides  the  Wular  Lake,  there 
is  another  smallei'  body  of  water,  about  nine  miles  in 
circumference,  lying  close  to  the  city.  It  is  supj^lied 
with  water,  not  from  the  Jhelum,  but  by  some  small 
streams  that  issue  from  the  overhanging  mountains. 
Upon  the  borders  of  this  lake,  and  placed  so  as  to 
be  watered  by  the  afore-mentioned  rivulets,  are  sev- 
eral of  these  royal  paradises,  created  by  the  former 
princes  of  Cashmere.     At  the  northeast  corner  of 


THE   CITY   OF   CASH:MERE.  401 

the  lake  is  situated  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of 
these  gardens,  the  Shalimar  Bagh,  laid  out,  or  at  least 
embellished,  by  the  Mogul  emperor  Jehangeer.  In 
this  earthly  paradise,  with  the  beloved  and  beautiful 
Noor-Jehan — the  heroine  of  Lalla  Rookh — he  spent 
many  a  day — 

"  When  from  power  and  poQip  and  the  trophies  of  war 
He  flew  to  that  valley,  forgetting  them  all, 
With  the  light  of  the  harem,  his  young  Nourmahal." 

And  here  it  was  that  they  were  reconciled  during 
the  "Feast  of  Roses,"  as  Nourmahal  wins  back  the 
love  of  Selim  (Jehangeer)  while  she  sings  as  the 
"  masked  Arabian  maid."  With  his  love  all  burning 
again,  he  exclaims : 

" '  Oh,  Nourmahal !  oh,  Nourmahal ! 

Hadst  thou  but  sung  this  witching  strain, 
I  could  forget,  forgive  thee  all, 
And  never  leave  those  eyes  again.'" 

"The  mask  is  off — the  charm  is  wrought — 
And  Selim  to  his  heart  has  caught. 
In  blushes  more  than  ever  bright, 
His  Nourmahal,  his  harem's  light ! 
And  well  do  vanished  frowns  enhance 
The  charm  of  every  brightened  glance; 
And  dearer  seems  each  dawning  smile 
For  having  lost  its  light  awhile; 
And  happier  now  for  all  her  sighs, 

As  on  his  arm  her  head  reposes, 
She  whisjjers  him  with  laughing  eyes, 

'  Remember,  love,  the  Feast  of  Roses  I' " 


402  EEMAIKS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

The  Shalimar  Bagh,  whicli  embraces  perhaps  be- 
tween twenty  and  thirty  acres,  lies  on  a  very  gentle 
sloj)e,  and  drops  down  to  the  lower  w^all  in  several 
terraces,  all  of  which  are  heavily  loaded  with  chenar, 
mulberr}^,  cherry,  plum,  apple,  pear,  apricot,  and  vari- 
ous ornamental  trees.  A  broad  avenue  and  water- 
course, lined  with  cheuars,  run  through  the  centre  of 
the  garden.  Pretty  cascades  are  formed  by  the  stream 
as  it  leaps  down  the  terraces.  Built  over  this  stream, 
in  the  U23per  part  of  the  garden,  is  the  once  beautiful 
summer-house,  which  now"  presents  the  same  ruinous 
and  neglected  aj^pearauce  as  the  kiosks  of  the  gar- 
dens of  Shiraz.  From  the  balconies  of  this  building 
was  once  displayed  to  the  eye  a  paradisaical  scene; 
and  the  view  even  now  down  over  the  terraces  of 
the  garden  is  rarely  bea!utiful.  It  was  here  that 
Moore  makes  the  Georgian  maid  give  utterance  to 
this  sentiment : 

"  If  there  be  an  Elj^sium  on  earth, 
It  is  this,  it  is  this." 

Situated  not  far  from  the  middle  of  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  Dul  is  the  Nishat  Baojh,  another  line 
garden,  not  unworthy  a  place  by  the  side  of  the 
"magnificent  Shalimar."  It  is  six  hundred  yards 
long  and  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  yards  in 
width.  It  rises  in  ten  terraces,  ujoon  the  lower  of 
which,  just  at  the  entrance  to  the  garden,  the  prin- 
cipal pavilion,  or  summer-house,  is  built.     Like  the 


THE   CITY   OF   CASHMERE.  403 

buildings  of  the  Shalimar,  those  of  this  garden  are 
also  falling  into  decay.  A  stream  runs  through  the 
centre  of  the  grounds,  leaping  the  terraces,  and  fi- 
nally escaj^ing  into  the  lake.  Jets  d'eau  are  ranged 
along  the  entire  length  of  this  water-course;  and 
when  throwing  their  full  supply  of  water — as  hap- 
pened upon  the  occasion  of  our  visit,  as  some  grand 
Cashmerian  officials  were  hourly  expected — present 
a  very  pretty  sight  as  they  toss  their  waters  amid 
the  trees  through  the  sunshine  and  the  shadows. 

Between  the  Shalimar  and  the  city  is  the  Nessib 
Bagh,  a  grove  of  noble  chenars,  without  a  summer- 
house.  It  makes  a  magnificent  camping-ground,  and 
the  white  tents  of  visitors  are  often  seen  beneath  the 
trees.  This  must  be  the  island  grove  which  Moore 
intends  to  describe  as  the  "Plane-tree  isle  reflected 
clear."  The  Char  Chenar  is  a  pretty  islet  rising  out 
of  the  lake  near  the  Nessib  Bagh.  It  is  said  at  one 
time  to  have  possessed  a  fine  temple,  but  now  only 
a  broken  stone  platform  is  to  be  seen.  There  are 
other  gardens  besides  those  we  have  referred  to ;  but 
the  foregoing  will  suffice  to  give  a  general  idea  of 
Cashmerian  paradises. 

The  floating  gardens  in  the  Dul  form  one  of  the  char- 
acteristic features  of  the  lake :  these  are  in  every  j^ar- 
ticular  reproductions  of  the  famous  chinampas,  or  float- 
ing gardens,  of  the  city  of  Mexico.  Large  portions  of 
the  lake  are  very  shallow,  and  thickly  covered  with 


404  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

aquatic  plants.  These  are  cut  off  by  the  natives  two 
or  three  feet  under  water,  and  then  pressed  together 
somewhat,  and  formed  into  beds  or  rafts  six  to  eight 
feet  in  breadth,  and  of  indefinite  length.  The  tops 
of  the  reeds  are  now  lopped  off,  and  then  mud 
thrown  on  and  allowed  to  work  down  into  the  bed, 
which  is  thus  converted  into  a  solid  mass.  Poles  are 
thrust  down  through  the  beds  to  prevent  their  being 
driven  out  of  j^lace  by  the  winds.  Little  mounds  of 
earth,  about  eighteen  inches  high,  supported  by  in- 
tertwined reeds,  are  raised  along  either  border  of  the 
raft ;  and  in  these  are  planted  melons  and  cucumbers, 
which  fruit  wondrously.  There  are  many  acres  of 
these  floating  gardens  in  the  Dul,  and  they  furnish 
the  principal  article  ot  diet  for  many  thousands  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Cashmere  for  several  months.  It 
is  perfectly  astonishing  to  see  the  quantities  that  are 
daily,  during  the  season,  brought  to  the  city  markets. 
It  might  be  questioned  whether  these  floating  gar- 
dens should  be  considered  real  or  personal  property 
— they  certainly  lack  one  of  the  requisites  of  the  for- 
mer. By  removing  the  poles  that  hold  them,  they 
are  easily  floated  away  from  their  positions.  As  a  con- 
sequence of  this  mobility,  they  are  sometimes  stolen, 
and  dragged  away  to  another  part  of  the  lake;  in 
which  case  the  rightful  proprietor  has  diflficulty  in 
discovering  the  whereabouts  of  his  garden,  and  in 
proving  property  when  found. 


THE  CITY   OF   CASHMERE.  405 

But  from  Cashmere  and  its  surroundinsfs  we  must 
turn  for  a  glimpse  of  Caslimerians.  The  population 
of  the  city  was  estimated  by  the  government,  in  1865, 
at  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand ;  of  which  number 
not  more  than  twenty  thousand  are  Hindus,  the  re- 
mainder Mohammedans."^  Moorcroft,  at  the  time  of 
his  visit,  in  1823,  put  the  poi^ulation  at  two  hundred 
and  forty  thousand,  estimating  the  number  of  per- 
sons engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  Cashmere  shawls 
alone  at  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand.  But 
even  at  that  time  the  population  of  the  city  liad 
greatly  declined  from  various  causes.  Two  centuries 
ago  the  population  of  the  entire  Cashmere  valley  was 
about  one  million ;  but  now  it  can  scarcely  exceed 
three  hundred  thousand,  a  decrease  resulting  from 
earthquakes,  famines,  and  pestilences — for  this  East- 
ern paradise  has  enjoyed  no  immunity  from  these 
scourges — and  also  from  the  oj)pressions  of  the  gov- 
ernment, which  have  driven  many  of  the  inhabitants 
from  the  valley.  The  old  feudal  idea  of  the  lands 
being  the  possession  of  the  rulers  has  prevailed  im- 
memorially ;  and  the  people,  though  industrious  and 
ingenious,  are  kept  in  hopeless  poverty  from  exor- 
bitant taxes,  imposed  by  unscrupulous  governors. 
Dr.  Elmslie,  before  alluded  to,  declared  to  us  that 

*  "  The  language  of  Cashmere  is  rooted  in  the  ancient  Sanskrit;  it  is 
estimated  that  out  of  one  hundred  words  twenty-five  are  Sanskrit,  forty 
Persian,  fifteen  Hindustani,  ten  Arabic,  and  a  few  Thibetan." — Ince. 


406  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

the  present  Maharajah,  son  of  the  notorious  Gholab 
Singh,  was  an  "  ignorant,  bigoted,  avaricious,  despotic 
monster."  And  yet  it  was  into  the  hands  of  such 
men  that  the  English  government  sold  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Cashmere ! 

Cashmerian  men  are  generally  tall,  well-propor- 
tioned, and  of  fairer  complexion  than  the  Indians  of 
the  plains ;  those  whose  habits  of  life  do  not  lead  to 
much  exposure  are  quite  as  fair  as  Europeans.  But 
this  is  not  a  singular  instance  illustrative  of  the  ef- 
fects of  climate  and  different  degrees  of  light  and 
heat  upon  the  color  of  the  human  body.  The  Arabs 
of  Northern  Syria  and  Armenia  we  observed  to  be 
much  lighter  complexioned  than  those  of  Southern 
Mesopotamia  and  Arabia.  The  Egyptians  are  said 
to  j)resent  a  "  chromatic  scale  from  black  to  white"  as 
we  ascend  the  Nile  from  the  delta  toward  Abyssinia. 
The  Tuarkiks  of  the  Atlas  are  also  represented  as 
being  of  a  fair  olive  color,  while  those  of  the  same 
race  dwelling  in  the  interior  of  Africa  are  as  black 
as  negroes. 

The  dress  of  the  men  of  Cashmere  is  the  effeminate 
Indian  costume.  The  higher  class  wear  long,  tight 
pantaloons,  a  short  gown,  and  an  immense  turban, 
all  white.  The  lower  class,  instead  of  the  long  In- 
dian trousers,  wear  short  drawers,  reaching  just  be- 
low the  knee;  and  often  the  whole  suit,  including 
the  turban,  is  made  of  a  cheap,  gray  woolen  manu- 


THE   CITY   OF  CASHJIERE.  407 

factnre.  The  loose  nature  of  the  gown  is  admirably 
adapted  alike  to  the  heats  of  summer  and  the  winter 
habits  of  Cashmerians.  They  have  no  fires  in  their 
dwelliuo-s ;  but  in  lieu  of  them  it  is  the  custom  to 
carry  a  liangree^  a  small  earthen  pot,  protected  by 
wicker-work  and  filled  with  coals,  which,  when  the 
person  is  sitting,  is  placed  beneath  the  clothes,  the 
looseness  of  the  garments  allowing  the  heat  to  cir- 
culate freely. 

Cashmerians  are  very  far  from  what  they  ought 
to  be  in  respect  to  conscientiousness  in  their  com- 
mercial transactions.  At  first  we  thought  them  ex- 
ceptionally honest;  but  we  soon  discovered  that  their 
trickery  was  inevitable  and  ingenious.  The  moment 
one  enters  the  city  he  is  beset  by  a  crowd  of  per- 
ambulating traders,  bringing  all  sorts  of  things,  from 
a  Cashmere  shawl  to  an  absurdly  bushy  dak's  tail; 
for  all  of  which  they  ask  several  times  their  w^orth. 
Dealers  in  precious  stones,  diamonds,  opals,  carbun- 
cles, etc.-— manufactured  in  France  or  Germany — open 
their  boxes  with  a  cautiousness  well  calculated  to 
inspire  respect  for  their  value.  One  needs  to  be 
chary  of  all  these,  and  deal  only  with  established 
houses  that  appreciate  the  policy  of  maintaining  a 
good  reputation.  There  are  firms  in  the  city  ^vhich 
have  earned  even  an  European  reputation  for  hon- 
esty and  fair  dealing. 

"VVe  have  already  referred,  incidentally,  to  at  least 


408  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

one  class  of  the  women  of  Cashmere.  Unwilling  as 
we  are  to  make  a  cruel  raid  on  romance  and  poetry, 
stoical  prose  compels  us  to  correct  a  popular  miscon- 
ception— for  which  the  imaginative  Moore  is  largely 
responsible — by  observing  that  the  ladies  of  Cash- 
mere seem  to  be  denied  even  the  usual  attractions 
of  their  sex.  We  did  not  see  a  single  pretty  or  even 
passably  pleasing  countenance  among  them  while  in 
Cashmere ;  and  even  among  the  faces  of  the  children, 
who  generally  among  all  races  are  fair-featured  and 
attractive,  we  did  not  notice  a  single  instance  of  that 
beauty  which  is  peculiarly  the  inheritance  of  child- 
hood. We  are  not  singular  in  our  failure  to  discover 
Cashmerian  beauties.  "The  women  are  broad-feat- 
ured and  coarse  of  figure,  and  not  so  elegant  in  form 
as  the  women  of  India,"  quietly  observes  Knight; 
while  M.  Jacquemont  irascibly  declares :  "  Moore  is 
a  perfumer,  and  a  liar  to  boot.  Know  that  I  have 
never  seen  any  where  such  hideous  witches  as  at 
Cashmere.  The  female  race  is  remarkably  ugly." 
Hidden  away  from  vulgar  eyes  within  the  harems  or 
zenanas  may  be  some  Moontajs,  Nourmahals,  and 
Lalla  Eookhs:  but  the  presumj)tion  is  against  any 
such  supposition ;  for  if  Venus  loved  to  visit  this 
sjTiot  as  dearly  as  the  Caucasian  vales,  she  would  in- 
evitably be  led  in  some  of  her  capricious  moods  to 
lend  her  girdle  to  some  of  the  unimprisoned  maidens 
of  the  valley. 


THE   CITY   OF   CASH]^IERE.  409 

The  products  of  the  shawl-looms  of  Cashmere  have 
given  it  a  world-wide  reputation.  The  wool  of  which 
these  shawls  are  made  is  furnished  by  several  ani- 
mals, the  wild  goat  of  the  provinces  of  Lassa  and 
Ladakh  affording  the  best.  The  domestic  goat  and 
wild  sheep  furnish  an  inferior  article.  It  is  simply 
the  inner  coat  or  down  that  is  used ;  the  iirst  step 
being  carefully  to  separate  this  from  the  hair.  This 
is  then  spun  by  the  women,  a  work  which  engages  a 
large  proportion  of  the  ^vomen  of  Cashmere.  The 
skins  are  next  dyed ;  and  in  this  art  the  Cashmerians 
disj^lay  much  taste  and  skill  in  producing  beautiful 
and  brilliant  tints.  The  weavers  are  always  men  or 
boys,  and  we  generally  found  from  twenty  to  fifty 
crowded  into  a  small  room,  three  or  four  being  en- 
gaged at  each  loom.  The  \varp  is  extended  in  the 
loom  as  though  the  wool  were  to  be  introduced  by  a 
shuttle;  but  instead  of  a  shuttle,  several  hundred  slim, 
wooden  needles,  each  wound  with  a  small  amount 
of  thread,  are  employed.  With  a  sort  of  hieroglyphic 
pattern  before  his  eye,  indicating  the  color  of  thread 
to  be  used,  the  weaver  passes  these  in  rapid  succes- 
sion, according  to  the  color  required,  through  one  or 
more  threads  of  the  warp. 

Many  of  the  shawls  are  woven  in  separate  pieces, 
and  then  carefully  joined,  this  being  so  skijlfully 
done  that  the  seams  are  scarcely  discernible.  The 
time  required  for  weaving  a  shawl  varies,  of  course. 


410  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

witli  the  pattern,  and  the  fineness  of  the  threads 
used-,  usually  three  or  four  weavers  are  engaged 
upon  a  single  shawl  from  three  months  to  two  years. 
There  are  rarer  patterns,  of  course,  that  embody  in- 
finitely more  labor  than  this.  The  price  of  the 
more  common  shawls  varies  from  400  to  1600  ru- 
pees ($200  to  $800). 

Besides  these  woven  shawls,  there  is  another  va- 
riety manufactured,  called  "  worked  shawls,"  in  which 
the  pattern  is  first  impressed  upon  the  prepared 
cloth,  and  then  the  colors  wrought  in  with  common 
needles.  Shawls  thus  embroidered  are  really  prettier 
than  the  woven  patterns,  though  not  so  rich,  Or,  con- 
sequently, highly  esteemed.  Very  beautiful  shawls 
of  this  kind  may  be  purchased  for  about  100  rupees. 
The  patterns  adapted  for  scarfs,  table-spreads,  and 
similar  articles,  are  generally  pretty  and  tasteful. 
The  entire  trade  is  now  languishing  in  Cashmere, 
since  European  manufacturers  have  so  successfully 
imitated  all  the  different  products  of  the  Cashmerian 
looms,  which  have  been  so  universally  and  deservedly 
admired. 

It  is  a  phenomenon  as  interesting  as  remarkable 
which  we  observe  in  the  ingenuity,  skill,  and  taste 
exhibited  by  many  half-civilized  peoples  in  the  pro- 
duction of  some  particular  article  of  manufacture ;  or 
the  aptness  displayed  by  such  for  some  special  science 
or  pursuit.     It  is  worth  our  while  to  notice  that  in 


THE   CITY   OF   CASHMERE.  411 

siicli  instances   Nature   has   often,  perhaps   always, 
given  the  first  suggestion,  and  become  teacher  and 
encourager.     The  better  the  material  she  places  in 
our   hands,  the    greater   is   the    incentive,  and   the 
stronger  the  desire  awakened  in  us,  to  manipulate 
it  skillfully  and  artistically.     Thus  in  Japan  the  sap 
furnished  by  a  certain  tree  possesses  the  qualities  of 
a  brilliant  varnish — is  admirably  adapted  to  the  pur- 
poses of  ornamentation,  transforming  the  surface  to 
w^hich  it  is  applied  so  that  it  rivals  in  appearance 
the  most  beautifully  polished  of  our  precious  woods. 
Now  this  article  is,  we  believe,  in  a  measure  at  least, 
the  secret  of  that  taste  and  ingenuity  displayed  by 
the  Japanese  in  the  manufacture  of  lacquer  cabinet- 
work.    In  this  art  no  other  workmen  in  the  world 
can  compete  with  them.    The  first  attempts  to  utilize 
this  substance  were  doubtless  rude  enough ;  but  the 
artist  finding  the  capabilities  of  that  with  wdiich  he 
dealt  far  in  advance  of  his  work,  was  constantly  in- 
spired to  more  painstaking  efi:brt;  and  thus  taste, 
ingenuity,  and  artistic  skill  were   gradually  devel- 
oped, till  he  became  a  not  unworthy  artist  and  skill- 
ful manipulator  of  the  material  put  into  his  hands. 
Especially  do  we  observe  the  Avorkman's  care  and 
faithfulness  in  the  inlaid  ornamentation  with  which 
the  lacquered  surface  is  embellished.     He  has,  seem- 
ingly, not  been  satisfied  till  the  beauty  of  this  should 
be  in  keeping  with  the  body  upon  which  it  rests  and 

E  E 


412  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

purports  to  adorn.  Birds  and  flowers  and  frnit  and 
foliage  are  most  artistically  inlaid  with  pearl,  the 
deep  colorings  and  delicate  tints  of  nature  being 
most  skillfully  imitated  by  the  most  wonderfully  ex- 
act and  tasteful  arrangement  of  the  different  pieces, 
the  whole  thus  forming  a  richly  brilliant  and  beau- 
tiful mosaic. 

And  thus  among  the  natives  of  Cashmere :  the 
wool  of  the  Himalayan  goat,  of  marvelous  delicacy 
of  fibre  and  of  silky  softness,  tempted  the  Cashme- 
rians  to  the  employment  of  unusually  careful  effort, 
that  the  product  of  their  work  might  be  worthy  of 
the  material.  Coarser  material  would  never  have 
inspired  such  painstaking  work.  Thus  skill,  taste, 
and  judgment,  all  greatly  at  fault  at  first,  are,  by  con- 
stant stimulus,  endeavor,  and  exercise,  gradually  de- 
veloped, till  in  tastefulness  of  design,  skillful  blend- 
ing of  different  tints,  and  wonderfully  patient  and 
faithful  execution,  these  loom  products  evidence  a 
genius  which  at  once  astonishes  us  and  challenges 
admiration. 

This  view,  we  are  aware,  militates  against  the  doc- 
trine of  a  certain  writer,  whose  name  our  memory 
refuses  to  recall,  who  asserts,  substantially,  that  it  was 
a  wonderful  providential  arrangement  that  placed  in 
the  same  reirion  an  artistic  ^vorkman  and  a  remarka- 
ble  product,  to  the  manipulation  and  manufacture  of 
which  the  skill  of  the  workman  was  exactly  adapted. 


THE   CITY   OF   CASHMERE.  413 

It  is  not  more  deferential  to  suioerintending  wisdom, 
and  certainly  is  gratuitously  unscientific,  to  assume 
such  intentional  juxtaposition  of  these  things — ma- 
terial and  skill  or  ingenuity.  We  should  rather  at 
once  surmise  that  the  presence  of  the  one  has  causal 
connection  with  the  co-existence  of  the  other.  We 
would  not  j)ush  this  doctrine  too  far;  yet  it  has  its 
legitimate  place  in  our  philosophies.  We  have  con- 
stant illustration  of  it,  as  we  see  Nature  ever  insti- 
tuting herself  as  our  teacher — offering  this  induce- 
ment and  that  encouragement,  and  thus  awakening 
and  developing  those  tastes  and  powers  and  apt- 
nesses and  latencies  which  without  these  suggestions 
and  stimuli  would  lie  dormant  and  unimproved. 


414  RE3IAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

MONUMENTS    OF    THE    GREAT    MOGUL    EMPIRE    EST    INDIA. 

Descent  to  the  Plains  of  India. — Change  Wrought  by  the  Monsoons. 
— Multiplicity  of  Scenes.  —  Architectural  Monuments  of  the  Great 
Moguls. — Sketch  of  the  Tartar  Tribes. — Conquests  of  Zingis  Khan 
and  Timour.  —  The  Mongol  Emi^ire  in  India  Compared  Avith  the 
Moorish  Kingdom  in  Spain. — Splendor  of  the  Great  Mogul  Court. — 
The  Mohammedan  Sovereigns  of  Delhi  and  the  Sepoy  Rebellion. — 
Our  Arrival  at  Delhi. — The  Dewani  Khass. — Persian  and  Indian  Au- 
dience Halls. — Beauty  of  the  Structure. — The  Peacock  Tlirone. — 
Jumna  Musjed. — Ruins  of  Old  Delliis. — The  Kutub  Minar. — Agra. — 
The  Taj  Mahal. — The  Beauty  of  this  Mausoleum. — Contrasted  with 
that  of  Zobeide's. — Palace  of  Akbar.  —  Pearl  Mosque.  —  Cawnpore 
and  Lucknow. — The  Well. — The  Relief  of  Lucknow. — Benares. — Its 
TemiDles  and  Shrines. 

FRo:\r  oiir  pleasant  retreat,  Ligli  among  the  snowy 
ranges  of  the  Himalayas,  we  watched,  through  the 
papers  that  regularly  found  their  way  into  our  se- 
questered vale,  the  progress  of  the  seasons  in  India. 
June  1 2th  the  monsoons  (the  heavy  rains  which  pre- 
vail in  India  from  June  to  October)  broke  at  Bom- 
bay;  and,  advancing  steadily  up  the  country,  reached 
the  base  of  the  Himalayas  the  18th.  From  130°  and 
140°,  tlie  thermometer  was  quoted  as  suddenly  drop- 
ping under  the  influence  of  the  cooling  floods  of  rain 
to  the  more  temperate  figures  of  80°  and  00°.     We 


MONUMENTS  OF  THE  GREAT  MOGUL  EMPIRE.  415 

were  also  told  of  what  was  going  ou  below  us  by 
the  black  thunder  -  clouds  that  pushed  just  their 
heads  above  the  hio-h  rano;es  which  walled  our  val- 
ley  along  the  south.  Occasionally,  however,  our  vale 
would  be  invaded — a  storm  would  force  the  passes, 
and  deluge  the  valley  from  one  end  to  the  other. 

About  the  middle  of  July  we  determined  upon 
descending  to  the  plains.  Carrying  a  host  of  pleas- 
ant reminiscences  with  us,  we  broke  camp,  bade  adieu 
forever  to  the  "  Happy  Vale  of  Cashmere,"  climbed 
sloAvly  the  inclosing  wall,  and  from  the  lofty  summit 
of  the  Pir  Punjal  looked  over  the  wilderness  of  mount- 
ains, breaking  down  in  giant  steps  to  the  plains;  then, 
turning  the  pass,  we  journeyed  onward  and  down- 
ward day  after  day,  dropping  with  the  streams,  or 
scaling  steep  ranges  to  descend  their  opposite  abrupt 
flanks  to  some  profounder  valley,  till  we  stood  at 
the  base  of  its  foot-hills,  with  the  gloomy,  towering 
mountains  all  behind  us,  and  the  great  level  expanses 
of  India  before  us.  From  Bhimur  palanquin  bear- 
ers ran  with  us  swiftly  to  Goojerat,  whence  the  dak 
conveyed  us,  less  expeditiously  however,  to  the  city 
of  Lahore. 

The  transformation  India  had  undergone  since  we 
fled  her  to  the  hills  was  perfectly  marvelous.  In 
May,  w^hen  we  first  passed  over  the  plains,  they  ap- 
peared like  one  vast  desert,  and  the  quivering  at- 
mos2:)here  seemed  filled  with  fire.     But  awakened  by 


416  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

the  maofic  touch  of  moisture,  a  beautiful  verdure  had 
oversi^read  the  face  of  the  country,  the  foliage  of  the 
trees  was  brightened,  and  all  nature  had  taken  on  a 
joyous  look.  This  yearly  resurrection  of  nature  in 
India,  coming  after  the  vegetation  has  been  long 
blasted  and  the  land  burned  by  the  fiery  sun  of  the 
dry  months,  is  the  counterpart  of  our  spring,  trans- 
forming into  life  and  beauty  the  dead,  seared  scenes 
of  winter ;  or  perhaps  it  may  be  better  likened  to  the 
bursting  life  of  the  South  American  llanos,  when  the 
first  showers  of  the  rainy  season  M\  upon  them, 
baked  and  cracked  from  long  drought.  One  passing 
through  Hindustan  during  the  dry  season  would 
pronounce  the  greater  portion  of  the  country  an  ir- 
redeemable desert;  the  same  person  viewing  the 
land  after  the  monsoons  have  fallen  would  declare 
the  beauty  of  the  country  paradisiacal. 

The  whole  land  was  looking  thus  like  a  beautiful 
garden,  and  the  heat  of  the  preceding  months  was 
being  atoned  for  by  a  fresher  and  more  respirable 
atmosphere,  as  we  left  Lahore  and  journeyed  down 
the  country  toward  Calcutta.  It  is  not  our  purpose 
to  give,  in  this  chapter,  a  detailed  account  of  all  the 
scenes,  experiences,  and  impressions  of  this  journey. 
India  crowds  such  an  infinite  variety  and  number  of 
phenomena  upon  the  attention  of  the  traveler,  that 
should  he  attempt  to  make  mention  of  all  those 
things   which    impress    him    his   journal    could   be 


MOXOIENTS   OF   THE   GREAT  MOGUL   EMPIRE.    417 

scarcely  more  than  an  arid  category  of  wonders  of 
art  and  nature,  and  strange  phenomena  of  life  and 
society.  The  last  particularly  thrust  themselves  ob- 
trusively at  all  times  upon  the  notice  of  the  Eu- 
ropean traveler,  because  so  novel,  so  antipodal  to  all 
Iiis  previous  experiences  and  traditional  instincts. 
The  theme  is  altogether  too  vast  to  encourage  any 
attempt  to  compass  it.  So,  instead  of  speaking  of 
many  things,  we  shall  confine  our  attention  to  a  very 
limited  number;  and  even  as  to  these  we  must  nec- 
essarily fail  of  even  a  remote  approximation  to  an 
exhaustive  treatment,  simply  suggesting,  by  frag- 
mentary sketches,  the  vastness  and  richness  of  the 
subjects  under  review. 

Prominent  among  the  attractions  which  India  pre- 
sents to  the  transient  visitor  are  her  architectural 
monuments  of  the  past;  and  pre-eminent  among 
these  are  the  relics  of  the  "  power  and  glory  of  the 
great  Mogul  sovereigns."  Before  examining  the 
magnificent  structural  memorials  of  that  remarkable 
empire  in  India,  it  will  be  well  for  ns,  in  order  to 
awaken  an  appreciative  and  intelligent  interest  in 
these  wonderful  monuments,  to  consider  briefly  the 
source  and  nature  of  that  exotic  civilization  which 
seemed  to  find  such  a  congenial  home  upon  the  soil 
of  the  Indian  peninsula,  and  that  there  displayed  an 
opulence  and  splendor  unwonted  even  to  the  "gor- 
geous East." 


418  REIVIAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

This  purpose  will  compel  us  to  turn  again,  as 
when  tracing  the  destiny  of  the  Saracen  Empire, 
toward  Central  Asia — to  the  "  shadowy  land  of  the 
Gogs  and  Magogs."  That  vast  expanse  of  mountains 
and  stejDpes  commonly  designated  as  Independent 
Tartary  (or  Turkestan)  and  Chinese  Tartayy,  sweep- 
ing quite  across  the  continent  of  Asia,  has  played  an 
intensely  interesting  and  important  part  in  the  drama 
of  human  history.  According  to  the  Veda  of  the 
Hindus  and  the  Zendavesta  of  the  Persians,  there 
was  the  paradisiacal  home  of  the  j^rogenitors  of  our 
race;  and  philological  science  is  pointing  more  and 
more  definitely  to  some  district  within  the  western 
limits  of  that  tract  as  the  centre  of  dispersion — the 
region  whence  issued  those  great  streams  of  migra- 
tion that  spread  over  the  w^orld.  Certain  it  is  that 
these  regions  have  been  the  "  great  nursery  of  na- 
tions—  the  armory  of  divine  Providence,  whence 
were  drawn  the  weapons  for  the  destruction  of  cor- 
rupt, worn-out,  or  imbecile  nations — the  great  store- 
house of  material  for  the  reconstruction  of  new  em- 
pires, nations,  or  communities." 

Varied,  indeed,  are  the  races  that  have  been  nour- 
ished amid  the  mountains  and  upon  the  vast  steppes 
of  that  extended  region,  and  have  gone  out  from 
their  rough  home  to  people,  to  devastate,  and  to 
people  anew  the  countries  to  the  north,  the  south, 
and  the  west.     The  appelhition  "Tartar"  has  come 


moxu:ments  of  the  great  mogul  empire.  419 

to  be  loosely  applied  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  these 
Central  Asiatic  countries ;  just  as  the  classical  writers 
embraced  all  those  to  which  their  knowledge  ex- 
tended under  the  ill-defined  term  of  "  Scythians."  In 
this  extended,  popular  signification,  the  term  em- 
braces a  large  number  of  tribes  possessing  no  com- 
mon ethnological  afiinities;  some  belonging  to  the 
Indo-Germanic  family  of  nations,  and  others  to  the 
Turanian  ;  yet  the  term  may  be  properly  enough 
used  to  conveniently  group  all  those  nomadic  or 
semi -nomadic  tribes  —  whether  Manchoos,  Mongols, 
Kalmucks,  Turks,  Turcomans,  Usbecks,  or  Kinghis 
Cossacks. 

In  the  dim  traditions  of  many  nations  are  pre- 
served the  vague  traces  of  the  early  migrations  that , 
were  born  of  the  overflowings  of  this  "  storehouse 
of  nations ;"  but  we  pass  by  these  primitive,  peaceful, 
migratory  movements  to  those  impulsive  outbreaks, 
that  may  more  properly  be  termed  eruptions,  which 
poured  like  devastating  floods  over  the  more  civilized 
communities  of  Asia  and  Europe. 

In  the  seventh  century  preceding  the  Christian 
era  these  Scythian  warriors  overrun  and  devastate 
the  fairest  portions  of  Western  Asia,  and  Egypt  is 
only  saved  by  an  exorbitant  ransom  from  becoming 
the  spoil  of  these  rough  hordes  of  the  North.  About 
the  middle  of  the  third  century  B.C.  the  Parthian 
horsemen  drive  from  Persia  the  successors  of  Seleu- 


420  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

ciis  Nicator,  and  upon  the  ruins  of  the  Greek  Empire 
establish  the  great  Parthian  monarchy :  a  kingdom 
of  such  extent  and  influence  that  the  Oriental  his- 
torian Rawlinson  classes  it  with  the  great  Chaldsean, 
Assyrian,  Median,  Babylonian,  and  Persian  Empires, 
designating  it  the  "  Sixth  Ancient  Monarchy  of  West- 
ern Asia."  For  several  centuries  we  behold  these 
fierce  Parthian  w^arriors  the  most  dreaded  and  for- 
midable enemies  of  the  Roman  legions. 

In  the  fourth  century  of  our  era  the  Tartar  tribes 
seem  all  convulsed,  and  are  hastening  to  its  fall  the 
tottering  fabric  of  the  Roman  power.  If  not  the  di- 
rect, immediate  cause  engaged  in  the  overthrow  of 
that  gigantic  empire,  they  are  at  least  the  people  to 
which  the  great  historian  of  the  decline  and  fall  of 
the  Roman  power  needs  to  turn  to  discover  the  re- 
mote causes  of  the  events  he  is  tracing.  The  shock 
received  by  the  Tartar  tribes  along  the  distant  front- 
ier of  China  is  transmitted  from  one  end  of  Asia  to 
the  other — is  communicated  to  the  barbarous  races 
of  Europe,  Avhich  are  hurled  upon  the  Roman  Empire 
with  a  fury  that  breaks  into  fragments  the  carefully 
consolidated  work  of  centuries,  sweeps  away  every 
landmark,  and  extinguishes  every  light  of  the  nas- 
cent civilization  of  Europe,  and  bewilders  the  world 
in  the  uncertainty  and  darkness  of  night. — (Gibbon's 
"  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,"  ch.  xxvi.) 

In  A.D.  11 50  Zinij-his  Khan  was  born.     To  this 


MONUMENTS  OF  THE  GREAT  MOGUL  EMPIRE.  42 1 

Mongol  warrior  would  well  apply  any  and  all  of  tLe 
epithets  that  have  been  used  to  designate  different 
destroyers  of  the  horaan  race;  for  he  was,  in  truth, 
"  the  beast,"  "  the  scourge  of  mankind,"  "  the  fire- 
brand of  the  Almighty."  Before  his  death  (1226) 
lie  had  swe]3t  with  fire  and  sword  the  cities  of  Asia 
and  Europe  from  Pekin  to  Moscow;  China,  India, 
Beloochistan,  Persia,  Mesopotamia,  and  large  districts 
of  Siberia  and  Europe,  were  traversed  by  his  hardy^ 
warriors,  the  inhabitants  massacred,  and  the  lands' 
wasted.  It  is  estimated  that  at  least  ten  or  twelve 
millions  of  the  race  were  destroyed  by  this  ruth- 
less butcher.  His  name  signified  "  greatest  Khan  of 
Khans,"  or  universal  sovereign ;  and  surely  the  ex- 
tent of  his  emj^ire  justified  the  assumption  of  such  a 
title:  stretching  from  China  to  Hungary,  from  the 
frozen  stepj^es  of  Siberia  to  the  hot  plains  of* India, 
his  dominions  embraced  a  much  greater  extent  of 
territory  than  the  world  had  ever  before  seen  swayed 
by  a  single  hand.  From  the  seat  of  the  royal  court, 
at  Karahorun,  the  embassadors  of  the  kings  and 
dukes  of  EurojDe,  and  the  potentates  of  Asia,  received 
the  decrees  of  the  rude  and  illiterate  barbarian. 

After  the  death  of  its  founder,  the  unwieldy  em- 
pire broke  into  several  fragments,  and  we  find  a 
Mongol  Empire  existing  in  China  a  century  and  a 
half  after  this  dismemberment ;  another  in  Russia ; 
still   another  in  Transoxiana;   and  yet  a  fourth  in 


422  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

Persia.  But  these  fragmentary  empires  were  either 
lost  through  rebellion,  or  were  gradually  disinte- 
grated by  rivalry  and  faction,  so  that  the  gigantic 
empire  of  Ziughis  required  to  be  reconquered  and 
recemented  by  the  genius  of  another  chieftain. 

Tamerlane,  or  Timour  the  Lame,  was  the  one  des- 
tined for  the  work  of  re-establishing  the  Mongol 
power.  This  great  conqueror  was  born  A.D.  1336. 
With  his  rough  followers  he  traversed  anew  most 
of  the  countries  that  had  been  tracked  by  the  san- 
guinary marches  of  the  conquering  Zinghis.  To  the 
savagery  of  the  barbarian  were  added  all  the  sanc- 
tioned cruelties  of  the  religious  fanatic ;  for  the  Tar- 
tar tribes  were  now  converts  of  Islamism,  and  their 
conquests  in  infidel  countries  were  characterized  by 
all  the  excessive  brutalities  to  which  the  ftiith  of  the 
False  Prophet  has  never  failed  to  prompt  its  fanatical 
defenders. 

It  is  Timour's  conquests  in  India  that  now  more 
nearly  concern  us.  Crossing  the  snowy  passes  of  the 
Himalayas,  his  hordes  of  hardy  soldiers  rushed  down 
upon  the  plains  of  India,  sacked  the  royal  and  opu- 
lent city  of  Dellii,  and  blackened  and  stained  with 
fire  and  ruthless  butchery  the  entire  countrj^  between 
the  Indus  and  the  Ganges.  The  immense  empire 
consolidated  by  Timour,  like  that  of  Zinghis,  fell  into 
confusion  and  anarchy  as  soon  as  death  removed  the 
genius  spirit  tliat  had  organized  it ;  but  the  dynasty 


MONUMENTS  OF  THE  GREAT  MOGUL  EMPIRE.  423 

established  in  Hindustan  was  destined  to  a  brilliant 
career.  For  nearly  one  hundred  years,  however,  it 
exhibited  nothing  but  weakness  and  disorder;  but 
about  1520  the  Mongol  chieftain  Baber,  a  descend- 
ant of  the  great  conqueror,  seized  the  throne,  and 
established  that  dynasty  of  Tartar  rulers  known  as 
the  Great  Moguls.  (Mogul  is  the  European  corrup- 
tion of  Mongol.) 

The  empire  of  the  Grand  Moguls  in  India,  which 
lasted  about  three  centuries,  till  overthrown  by  the 
British  po^ver,  displays  an  affluence  and  splendor 
that  recalls  the  maonificence  of  the  court  of  the  Ca- 
liphs  during  the  golden  period  of  the  renowned  Ha- 
roun-al-Raschid.  And  there  are  many  features  com- 
mon to  the  Mongol  and  the  Saracenic  Empire.  Thus, 
as  those  rude  Arab  sheiks,  under  the  influence  of  the 
civilization  with  which  they  came  in  contact,  acquired 
a  taste  for  the  refinements  of  a  cultured  life,  and  be- 
came the  munificent  patrons  of  art  and  science  and 
philosophy,  so  these  Mogul  chieftains,  in  exchanging 
their  rough  home  of  the  North  for  the  genial  clime 
of  India,  seem  to  have  been  inspired  with  a  new  life, 
and  to  have  forgotten  the  tastes  of  the  barbarian. 

This  transformation  wrought  upon  barbarous,  con- 
quering tribes,  by  the  influences  of  a  higher  civiliza- 
tion, under  which  the  movements  of  conquest  may 
have  brought  them,  is  not  singular,  but  has  had 
constant  illustration  since  the  time  that  the  rough 


424  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

Roman  legions  came  in  contact  with  the  more  pol- 
ished culture  of  the  Greeks,  and  as  "  conquerors  be- 
came the  conquered." 

The  kingdom  of  the  Arab  Moors  in  Spain  is  not 
only  illustrative  of  the  capabilities  and  aesthetic  tastes 
that  may  lie  dormant  where  one  might  least  expect 
to  find  them,  and  of  how  beneath  the  magic  touch  of 
genial  influences  and  opportunities  they  may  sud- 
denly exhibit  an  unexpected  susceptibility  and  re- 
sponsiveness; but  it  also  affords,  in  a  more  particular 
way,  a  parallel  to  the  great  Mogul  Empire  in  India. 
As  the  Moorish  kingdom  of  Granada  was  an  offshoot 
of  the  great  Saracenic  empire,  that  had  its  birth  in 
the  Arabian  irruption  of  the  seventh  century,  so  the 
Grand  Mogul  monarchy  in  India  was,  in  the  same 
way,  a  branch  of  the  vast  empire  established  in  Asia 
by  the  irruption  of  the  Tartar  hordes  seven  centuries 
later.  Each  w^as  thus  the  offspring  of  a  destructive 
barbarian  eruption ;  each  was  the  fragment  of  a 
mighty  empire ;  the  princes  of  each  w^ere  the  patrons 
of  literature,  and  exhibited  a  refined  architectural 
taste,  that  gave  birth,  in  the  one  case,  to  the  beau- 
tiful and  almost  faultless  palaces  of  Granada  and 
Seville,  and,  in  the  other,  to  the  inimitable  royal 
structures  of  Delhi  and  Agra.  The  style  of  archi- 
tecture, also,  of  the  palaces  of  the  great  Moguls  is 
suggestive  of  that  of  the  Alhambra;  especially  in 
beauty  of  design,  profuseness  of  ornamentation,  and 


MONUMENTS  OF  THE  GREAT  MOGUL  EMPIRE.  425 

patient  elaboration  of  details  does  the  architecture 
of  the  Moguls  bear  a  close  resemblance  to  that  of 
the  Moorish  kings. 

About  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century 
the  celebrated  traveler  and  court-physician  Bernier 
brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  world  the  fabulous 
splendor  of  the  court  of  the  great  Moguls.  It  had, 
at  this  time,  attained  its  culminating  glory ;  and  the 
Oriental  extravagance  displayed  in  the  glittering 
paraphernalia  of  royaltj^  at  once  attracted  and  dazed 
the  eyes  of  the  courts  of  Europe,  and  excited  among 
them  that  unseemly  struggle  for  the  "  wealth  of  In- 
dia" w^hich  has  resulted  in  the  supremacy  of  the 
English  and  the  utter  annihilation  of  the  sovereign- 
ty of  the  Mogul  princes. 

Delhi  and  Agra  were  both  imperial  cities  of  the 
Mogul  sovereigns ;  and  they  now  hold  the  most 
splendid  architectural  memorials  of  their  empire  that 
have  escaped  the  convulsions  of  revolution  and  con- 
quest. At  the  breaking  out  of  the  memorable  Sepoy 
rebellion  the  court  of  the  Mogul  potentate  was  held 
at  the  former  capital.  Impelled  by  the  most  invet- 
erate political  and  religious  hatred  of  the  English, 
the  Mohammedan  emperor  of  Delhi  eagerly  joined 
the  rebel  Sepoys ;  and  thus  to  all  the  horrors  of  un- 
feeling Hindu  brutality,  revealed  during  that  terri- 
l)le  rebellion,  was  added  the  ruthless,  bloodthirsty 
fanaticism  of  Moslemism.,     We   have   no   desire  to 


426  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES.  | 

follow    the    example    of  many    writers,  and   u         ^ 
again   any   of  those    scenes   of  inhuman    butc^  ^ 

where  unresistins^  women  and  children  were  cv 
pieces  in  each  other's  blood,  in  crowded  "  slaug 
pens."  The  world  has  shuddered  often  enoug.  at 
this  revelation  of  the  deepest  hell.  It  is  enough  for 
us  here  to  remark  that  many  of  those  fiendish  acts  I 
were  but  the  execution  of  edicts  that  issued  from  the 
imperial  halls  at  Delhi.  When  the  capital  was  at 
last  taken  by  the  English  army,  after  a  sanguinary 
siege,  a  terrible  retribution  followed.  The  citizens 
offered  almost  a  million  sterlino;  as  a  ransom  for  their 
guilty  city.  But  it  was  refused,  the  inhabitants  were 
driven  out,  and  the  city  justly  given  up  to  pillage. 
Mohammed  Surazoo-deen,  the  last  of  the  Grand  Mo- 
guls, was  condemned  to  transportation:  he  died  in 
Burmah,  1861.  Many  of  the  numerous  princes  of 
the  royal  house  were  executed;  and  the  palace  and 
its  accessories,  save  the  royal  audience- hall,  were 
reduced  to  masses  of  ruins. 

Upon  our  arrival  at  Delhi,  the  first  place  to  which 
we  directed  our  guide  to  conduct  us  was  the  ancient 
royal  quarter  of  the  city.  We  found  the  strongly 
fortified  enceinte,  which  formerly  contained  the  pal- 
ace, occupied  by  English  barracks,  with  only  one 
important  relic  of  the  imperial  structures  remaining 
to  witness  the  ti'utlifulness  of  the  seemingly  fabulous 
accounts  of  the  mao-nificence  witli  ^^■]lich  the  Moo-ul 


MONUMENTS  OF  THE  GREAT  MOGUL  EMPIRE.  427 

"eiscns  surrouncled  their  court.     This  memorial 
'the  famous  Dewani  Khass,  the  great  audience- 
'built  by  the  Emperor  Shah-Jehan,  whose  archi- 
.I'al  taste  also  gave  to  the  world  its  most  beau- 
til  l.*-  mausoleum — the  inimitable  Taj  Mahal,  at  Agra. 
As  the  palace  at  Delhi  was  the  finest  imperial  resi- 
dence in  the  East,  so  the  Dewani  Khass  w^as  the 
most  beautiful  audience  -  hall  that  ever  shaded  the 
throne  of  any  Oriental  potentate. 

Dr.  Butler,  who  visited  Delhi  in  1857,  says:  "1 
found  it  [the  Dewani  Khass]  despoiled  of  its  glory, 
its  marble  halls  and  columns  whitewashed,  and  the 
whole  turned  into  a  hospital  for  sick  soldiers !"  But 
we  found  it  (in  1872)  restored  to  somewhat  of  its 
former  splendor.  The  English  government  is  wisely 
interesting  itself  in  the  preservation  of  India's  archi- 
tectural monuments  of  the  past;  and  this  generous 
regard  for  the  curiosity  of  posterity  has  led  to  the 
careful  renovation  of  the  Dewani  Khass,  so  that  the 
building  now  stands  in  almost  its  pristine  integrity 
— barring,  of  course,  the  gold  and  silver  ornamenta- 
tions, which  have  long  since  disappeared. 

In  our  survey  of  the  ruined  palaces  of  the  Persian 
kings  we  saw  standing  on  the  loftiest  terrace  of  the 
Persepolitan  platform,  overlooking  the  broad  plain  of 
Merdasht,  the  ruins  of  the  magnificent  pillared  audi- 
ence-hall of  those  ancient  sovereigns.  In  the  majesty 
of  lofty  and  imposing  proportions,  that  royal  hall, 

Ff 


428  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

could  all  its  fallen  pillars  be  lifted  again  in  crowded 
and  stately  phalanx,  would  surpass  by  far  the  marble 
pavilion  council- chamber  of  the  great  Moguls:  for 
though  the  structures  of  these  sovereigns  were  by 
no  means  deficient  in  the  elements  of  grandeur,  lent 
by  gigantic  or  massive  construction,  their  greatest 
merit  lay  in  beauty  of  material,  faultless  proportions, 
and  marvelous  richness  of  ornamentation.  Bishop 
Heber  expresses  this  in  one  sententious  line :  "  These 
Pathans  designed  like  Titans  and  finished  like  jew- 
elers." 

The  Dewani  Khass  is  a  low  -  pillared,  massive, 
arched  pavilion,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in 
length  and  fifty  feet  in  breadth.  It  is  constructed 
entirely  of  the  most  beautifully  polished  white  mar- 
ble, pure  as  the  Parian  stone.  The  brilliant  beauty 
of  the  material  recalls  the  bright,  untarnished  blocks 
of  the  Athenian  Parthenon.  So  gracefully  are  the 
pillars  wrought  and  the  arches  bended,  and  so  exqui- 
sitely is  the  face  of  the  marble  carved  with  tracery, 
that  we  are  at  once  equally  lost  in  admiration  of  the 
skill  and  taste  of  the  artist.  The  ornamentation  is 
simply  inimitable ;  only  an  Indian  prince  could  com- 
mand the  wealth  and  the  labor  requisite  for  the  em- 
bellishment of  so  vast  a  structure  in  such  a  lapida- 
ry style.  Almost  every  portion  of  the  pillars  and 
arches  of  the  pavilion  is  covered  with  gilt  tracery, 
or  inlaid  with  intricate  and  graceful  designs  of  vines, 


MONUMENTS  OF  THE  GREAT  MOGUL  EMPIRE.  429 

flowers,  fruit,  foliage,  and  arabesques,  all  wrought  in 
different-colored  stones,  as  lapis  lazuli,  chalcedony, 
garnet,  agate,  carnelian,  jasper,  heliotrope,  amethyst, 
topaz,  sard,  chlorite,  and  variegated  marbles ;  so  that 
in  the  various  objects  represented  all  the  colors  of 
nature  are  exactly  imitated;  and  so  skillfully  and 
artistically  is  the  inlaying  done,  that  the  hand  fails 
to  detect  any  roughness  whatever  in  the  face  of  the 
marble,  and  the  eye  deceives  one  into  the  belief  that 
the  mosaic  is  a  beautiful  painting  depicted  on  the 
white  canvas -like  surface.  Many  of  the  gems  of 
these  rich  mosaics  have  been  picked  out;  but  the 
pavilion  is  now  carefully  guarded  against  such  van- 
dalism in  the  future. 

In  the  beautiful  flowing  arabesque-like  characters 
of  the  Arabic  are  many  quotations  from  the  Koran, 
inlaid  upon  different  portions  of  the  building.  Here 
also  are  the  lines  which  Moore  has  made  famous 
through  his  "  Lalla  Rookh  :" 

"If  there  be  an  elysium  on  earth, 
It  is  this,  it  is  this."* 

Recalling  that  the  present  magnificence  of  the  place 
is  but  a  remnant  of  the  glory  that  the  emperor  saw 


*  Dr.  Butler,  in  his  "  Land  of  the  Veda,"  substitutes  in  this  couplet, 
without  what  seems  to  us  an  improvement  in  the  poetry  at  least,  the 
word  paradise  for  "  elysium,"  observing  that  the  latter  is  "  too  Euro- 
pean, too  Northern  a  term."  Dr.  Clarke,  quoted  by  the  same  writer,  re- 
marks :  "  The  term  paradise  is  applied  to  denote  "  splendid  apartments, 
as  well  as  fine  gardens ;  in  a  word,  any  place  of  pleasure  and  delight." 


430  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

about  him,  as  from  his  jeweled  throne  beneath  the 
arches  of  the  gorgeously  curtained  pavilion  his  eye 
took  in  the  beauties  of  the  surrounding  gardens 
and  the  splendor  of  the  royal  apartments,  we  can 
easily  forgive  the  ardent,  impulsive  sentiment  of 
Shah-Jehan. 

Beneath  the  central  arch  of  the  pavilion  is  a  low 
marble  platform,  on  which  stood  the  famous  Peacock 
Throne.  Bernier,  who  saw  this  extraordinary  "  piece 
of  Oriental  extravagance,"  describes  it  as  being  con- 
structed of  two  peacocks,  wrought  in  gold  and  silver 
and  the  most  precious  stones ;  the  varied  plumage  of 
the  birds  being  formed  of  the  skillfully  blended  tints 
of  the  choicest  gems.  Six  ''  massy  feet  of  gold," 
sprinkled  with  rubies  and  diamonds,  supported  the 
brilliant  seat.  The  throne  was  mounted  by  silver 
steps,  and  was  canopied  with  gold  and  silver  and 
jewels.  Its  value  has  been  variously  estimated  from 
$20,000,000  to  $150,000,000.  The  renowned  Koh-i- 
noor  diamond  formed,  as  is  well  known,  a  part  of  the 
regalia  of  the  Great  Mogul.  The  Persian  conqueror 
and  robber.  Nadir  Shah,  bore  off  in  triumph  the 
jeweled  throne;  and  the  Koh-i-noor  is  to-day  the 
brightest  gem  that  glitters  amid  the  jewels  of  the 
Queen  of  the  British  Empire. 

Another  relic  of  the  splendid  pile  of  building  em- 
braced within  the  fortified  palace  inclosure  is  the  pri- 
vate royal  mosque — a  perfect  gem,  pure  as  the  liglit 


MONUMENTS  OF  THE  GREAT  MOGUL  EMPIRE.  43 1 

of  heaven.  This  edifice  is  constructed  of  beautifully 
carved  and  polished  marble,  which  dazzles  like  snow. 
Its  stainless  purity  seems  a  mocking  satire  upon  the 
guilty,  blood-stained  religion  of  which  it  stands  as 
the  embodiment. 

In  another  part  of  the  city,  some  distance  from 
the  royal  quarter,  is  the  Jumna  Musjed,  the  principal 
mosque  of  Delhi,  and  one  of  the  finest  of  which  Islam- 
ism  can  boast.  It  was  erected  by  Shah-Jehan,  the  cre- 
ator of  the  Dewani  Khass  and  Taj  Mahal,  and  is  wor- 
thy of  the  taste  and  resources  of  that  princely  build- 
er. It  stands  upon  an  elevated  platform  five  hundred 
feet  square,  constructed  of  warm-colored  sandstone, 
and  is  reached  by  magnificent  flights  of  steps.  The 
lofty  minaret  and  soaring  domes,  the  latter  striped 
with  dark-hued  stone,  tower  conspicuously  above  the 
surrounding  buildings  of  the  city.  The  walls  are  not 
composed  entirely  of  marble,  but  are  simply  faced  or 
paneled  with  heavy  slabs  of  that  material. 

From  the  minarets  a  splendid  view  is  gained,  which 
embraces  the  whole  of  Delhi  and  the  surrounding 
country.  The  first  thing  that  attracts  the  eye,  after 
it  has  wandered  beyond  the  limits  of  the  city,  is  a 
distant  yet  lofty  tower,  that  rises  up  grandly  from 
a  desolate,  ruin-heaped  plain  —  the  site  of  former 
Delhis.  We  need  no  one  to  tell  us  that  that  grand 
isolated  column  is  the  celebrated  Kutub  Minar,  the 
loftiest  pillar  in  the  world. 


432  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

Althougli  there  is  some  controversy  respecting  the 
age  and  design  of  this  work,  those  best  qualified  to 
speak  as  authorities  upon  the  subject  pronounce  it 
the  minaret  of  a  great  mosque,  which  was  com- 
menced by  the  Mohammedan  conquerors  of  India 
more  than  six  centuries  ago,  and  which  was  intended 
to  surpass  every  other  Moslem  shrine  in  the  Orient. 
Although  this  minaret  was  carried  up  to  its  full 
height,  the  mosque  itself  was  never  completed.  The 
Kutub  is  about  fifty  feet  in .  diameter  at  the  base, 
and  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  height.  It  is  five- 
storied  ;  each  division  being  marked  by  a  broad,  rich 
cornice  and  balustrade.  The  lower  stories  are  com- 
posed of  sandstone,  but  the  upper  of  pure  white 
marble.  One  well  able  to  speak  of  its  comparative 
merits — we  mean  Bayard  Taylor — calls  it  the  finest 
shaft  ever  raised  by  man,  and  gives  it  a  place  before 
Giotto's  Florentine  Campanile  and  the  Giralda  of 
Seville. 

Nothing  teaches  more  impressively  man's  frailty 
than  his  unfinished  undertakings.  Lying  in  the 
quarry  near  the  Syrian  city  of  Baalbec  is  the  largest 
worked  stone  in  the  world,  a  gigantic  block  nearly 
seventy  feet  in  length,  almost  detached  and  ready 
for  transportation  to  its  niche  in  the  Titanic  platform 
of  the  Temple  of  the  Sun.  It  seems  as  though  the 
workmen  had  just  momentarily  left  their  labor,  and 
we  fancy  that  we  must  soon  see  them  returning. 


MONUMENTS   OF  THE   GREAT   MOGUL  EJUPIEE.    433 

But  forty  centuries  or  more  ago  some  providential 
emergency  called  them  from  their  work;  and  there 
lies  the  huge  block,  and  yonder  is  the  cyclopean  wall 
with  its  vacant  niche,  one  of  the  most  striking  and 
impressive  of  the  unfinished  labors  of  the  world. 
And  so  the  colossal  Kutub  Minar,  though  a  finished 
column  in  itself,  is  but  a  fragmentary  memorial  of 
a  gigantic  unfinished  plan ;  and  as  such  it  will 
doubtless  stand  to  teach  many  generations  yet  to 
come  that,  though  man  may  propose.  Heaven  will 
dispose. 

The  Kutub  Minar  towers  over  a  plain  strewn  far 
and  wide  with  ruins.  For  fifteen  miles  from  Delhi, 
along  the  course  of  the  Jumna,  the  face  of  the  coun- 
try is  covered  with  fragments  of  massive  walls,  gate- 
ways, palaces,  mosques,  monumental  tombs,  and  even 
astronomical  observatories.  These  are  the  remains 
of  the  Delhis  of  the  past.  Twenty  centuries  ago  the 
first  Delhi  was  founded ;  being  left  a  mass  of  ruins 
by  some  conqueror,  it  was  abandoned,  and  another 
site  chosen ;  this,  in  its  turn,  was  deserted  for  a  third ; 
which  also  was  destined  to  see  another  city,  bearing 
its  name,  spring  up  alongside  its  crumbling  walls: 
thus  the  ruins  lying  along  the  river  are  really  those 
of  several  distinct  cities.  Did  not  the  traveler  wan- 
dering amid  the  interminable  ruins  bear  in  mind 
that  not  the  size,  but  the  migratory  character  of  the 
imperial  city,  scattered  the  remains  over  such  a  vast 


434  KEMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

extent  of  country,  he  would  believe  that  mighty 
Babylon  must  have  here  had  her  rival, 

A  little  over  one  hundred  miles  in  a  southerly 
direction  from  Delhi  is  the  city  of  Agra,  another 
imperial  centre  of  the  "power  and  glory"  of  the 
Mogul  emperors.  Pre-eminent  among  its  wonderful 
architectural  monuments  is  the  inimitably  perfect 
and  universally  celebrated  Taj  Mahal.  Justly  has 
this  structure  been  pronounced  by  every  beholder 
the  most  beautiful,  the  most  faultless  monument  ever 
raised  by  the  art  of  man. 

Before  visiting  this  beautiful  mausoleum,  we  had 
come  to  entertain  the  thought  that  man's  most  la- 
borious and  magnificent  works  had  been  prompted 
by  his  religious  sentiments.  This  thought  had  re- 
curred to  us  again  and  again  while  gazing  upon  the 
glories  of  St.  Paul's  and  St.  Peter's,  and  that  won- 
drously  wrought  pile,  the  Milan  Cathedral.  The  same 
conviction  was  pressed  upon  us  amid  the  magnifi- 
cent remains  of  the  temples  of  classic  times  :  the  old- 
en shrines  of  Rome,  Athens,  Baalbec,  and  Palmyra, 
grand,  beautiful  even,  in  their  ruin  and  desecration, 
served  only  to  deepen  the  impression  'produced  by 
the  splendid  creations  of  the  Christian  faith ;  the 
lofty  tower-temples  of  Assyria  and  Babylonia  told 
us  how  even  in  the  Avorld's  childhood  man  had  been 
prompted  to  give  laborious  material  expression  to 
liis   religious   hopes   and  fears ;  the  preserved  and 


MONUMENTS  OF  THE  GREAT  MOGUL  EMPIRE.  435 

decayed  mosques  of  the  Mohammedan  countries 
through  which  our  wanderings  had  led  us,  and  the 
thousand  honored  and  dishonored  shrines  and  tem- 
ples of  the  Hindu  faith  that  we  found  throughout 
India  and  the  lofty  valleys  of  the  Himalayas,  all  con- 
firmed our  first  conviction  that  man's  religious  sen- 
timents and  aspirations  had  inspired  the  loftiest 
genius,  and  lent  the  divinest  skill  that  ever  quick- 
ened the  soul  or  guided  the  hand  of  Art. 

But  in  the  presence  of  the  beautiful  mausoleum 
of  the  Taj  Mahal  we  were  taught  that  it  is  Love 
that  forgets  costs  and  labor  when  raising  its  fitting 
memorials  over  lost  affections.  Religion  never  has 
raised,  nor  ever  will  raise,  such  a  monument  of  its 
sentiment.  The  Milan  Cathedral  seems  gross  in  com- 
parison with  the  purity  and  lightness  of  the  Taj. 
Religion's  love  for  the  high  object  of  her  afi*ections, 
when  it  becomes  that  impassioned  sentiment  which 
has  given  to  the  world  the  loveliness  of  this  mau- 
soleum, must  needs  build  of  other  material  than  gold 
and  precious  stones. 

We  can  not  hope,  by  any  description  of  ours,  to 
convey  any  just  conception  of  the  beauty  of  this 
mausolean  structure,  which  has  always  alike  en- 
tranced the  beholder  and  bafiled  his  efforts  to  ade- 
quately portray  the  object  of  his  enthusiasm.  No 
single  pen  has  ever  di'awn  a  complete  picture  of  the 
Taj  Mahal ;  but  each  of  the  many  sketches  that  have 


436  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

been  traced  by  different  writers  seems  but  a  rough 
study  or  fragmentary  effort  of  the  artist.  Each, 
while  exhibiting  some  fresh  beauty,  or  discovering 
some  new  harmony,  shows  the  imperfect  character 
of  all  the  others.  One  is  struck  at  the  marvelous 
balancings  of  proportions ;  another  at  the  wonderful 
plasticity  of  the  snowy  marble,  which  in  the  hands 
of  the  artist  assumes  such  lovely  forms  of  lace-like 
delicacy  and  zephyr  lightness ;  still  another  is  in 
transports  of  admiration  over  the  beauty  and  rich- 
ness of  the  rare  mosaics  of  flower  and  fruit  and  leaf, 
wrought  with  such  fairy  skill  in  the  face  of  the  mar- 
ble ;  and  yet  a  fourth  is  enraptured  while,  with  the 
whole  in  its  inviolable  unity  before  him,  he  reflects 
only  upon  the  sentiment  it  embodies.  Dr.  Butler, 
who,  in  his  "  Land  of  the  Veda,"  draws  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  sketches  that  has  ever  been  made, 
expresses  his  sense  of  and  offers  excuse  for  its  incom- 
pleteness, and  its  inadequateness  to  convey  to  his 
readers  those  feelings  which  it  awakened  in  himself, 
by  observing  that,  "  like  piety,  or  like  heaven,  it  may 
be  said  of  the  Taj  that  no  man  knoweth  it  save  him 
that  receiveth  it." 

After  having  given  some  statements  that  may  re- 
veal in  part  the  foundation  upon  which  such  un- 
bounded and  universal  admiration  has  been  accorded 
to  the  wonderful  loveliness  of  this  monumental  tomb, 
we  will  illustrate  the  impression  which  its  beauty 


MONUMENTS  OF  THE  GREAT  MOGUL  EMPIRE.  437 

has  produced  upon  different  observers,  by  quoting 
their  own  heated  and  impassioned  language,  and 
shall  hope,  by  thus  enabling  our  readers  to  view  the 
Taj  through  the  eyes  of  those  best  fitted  to  judge  of 
its  merits  and  beauties,  and  best  qualified  to  convey 
their  impressions  to  others,  to  give  a  much  better 
conception  of  this  faultless  monument  of  the  skill 
and  taste  of  the  artists  of  the  Great  Mogul  than  we 
can  impart  by  any  unsupported  words  of  our  own. 

Preceding  any  description,  one  word  will  be  requi- 
site respecting  the  origin  and  builder  of  the  Taj.  It 
was  erected  by  the  Mogul  emperor  Shah-Jehan,  in 
accordance  with  a  promise  made  to  his  beautiful  and 
beloved  consort,  Moontaj-i-Mahal,  who  died  in  1631, 
leaving  as  a  last  request  that  he  should  raise  to  her 
memory  a  monumental  tomb.  This  mausoleum  was 
born  of  that  dying  wish  and  the  affection  of  the 
emperor,  over  whom  during  life  the  lovely  queen 
had  exerted  an  unbounded  influence.  The  artist 
employed  by  the  emperor  in  the  construction  of 
the  edifice  is  thousjht  to  have  been  a  Frenchman, 
M.  Austin  de  Bordeaux,  who  had  great  influence  at 
the  court  of  the  Great  Mosrul.  This  same  artist  is 
believed  to  have  designed  several  other  structures 
for  the  sovereign  Shah-Jehan,  who  seems  to  have 
had  as  great  a  passion  for  building  as  the  Syrian 
Seleucus.  The  Taj  was  raised  by  a  nation's  toil; 
for  it  is  recorded  by  Tavernier  that  twenty  thou- 


438  REMAINS   OP  LOST  EMPIRES. 

sand  men  were  engaged  upon  the  work  for  twenty 
years. 

As  we  stood  beneath  the  rich  monumental  pile,  we 
could  not  but  contrast  it  with  the  tomb  of  Zobeide — 
the  beautiful  consort  of  the  Caliph  Haroun-al-Kaschid 
— which  we  had  stood  beside  only  a  few  months  be- 
fore at  Bagdad.  Equally  lovely  and  beloved  in  life, 
each  the  light  of  a  brilliant  semi-barbarian  court,  one 
lies  to-day  beneath  a  mean  tomb,  on  the  edge  of  an 
uncultivated  desert ;  the  other  reposes  within  the 
most  costly  mausoleum  in  the  world,  in  the  midst 
of  a  garden  of  unwonted  beauty  even  for  an  Eastern 
paradise. 

Since  the  time  when  there  was  planted  a  garden 
eastward  in  Eden,  the  East  has  been  celebrated  for 
its  paradises.  The  one  that  casts  its  shades  about 
the  Taj  Mahal  com'bines  the  charms  of  the  royal 
gardens  of  Shiraz  'and  Cashmere.  Conspicuous  amid 
the  lighter  foliage  of  the  orange  and  lemon  and  palm 
and  banyan  rise  the  dark  cones  of  the  "mournful 
cypress,"  that  tremble  slightly  in  the  breeze,  like  the 
sad,  rich  plumes  of  funereal  pomj);  jets  d'eau,  grouped 
about  the  pools,  and  ranked  along  the  avenues  of  ap- 
proach to  the  mausoleum,  toss  their  pearly  streams 
into  the  air,  and  shiver  into  a  thousand  quick  gleams 
of  light  the  faces  of  the  marble  reservoirs. 

Opposite  the  magnificent  gateway  which  gives  en- 
trance to  the  garden,  and  midway  between  two  costly 


MONUMENTS  OF  THE  GREAT  MOGUL  EMPIRE.  439 

structures,  designed  one  for  a  mosque,  the  other  as  a 
temporary  home  for  pilgrims  or  visitors  to  the  shrine, 
rises  the  Taj,  overhanging  the  river  Jumna,  w^hich 
almost  laves  one  face  of  the  great  terrace  upon 
which  the  mausoleum  stands.  Surmounting  the 
lower  stage  is  a  polished  marble  platform,  from 
each  corner  of  which  shoots  up  a  beautiful  minaret, 
one  hundred  feet  in  height,  and  exactly  in  the  centre 
of  which  stands  the  triple-domed,  minareted  mauso- 
leum itself,  glorious  as  light,  being  of  such  a  dazzling 
brightness  when  the  sun  falls  upon  it  that  the  eye 
can  not  be  directed  steadily  toward  it.  The  gilded 
crescent  that  surmounts  the  central  dome  flashes  in 
the  light  two  hundred  and  sixty  feet  above  the  mar- 
ble terrace. 

Had  the  artist  been  satisfied  with  the  bare  em- 
bodiment of  his  ideal  in  the  symmetrical  balancings 
and  faultless  proportions  that  we  have  now  before 
us,  the  Taj  would  even  then  be  matchless  and  unap- 
proachable by  any  future  effort ;  for  so  perfect  is  the 
harmony  of  all  its  parts,  so  immaterial  is  its  lightness, 
that  it  seems  as  thousfh  the  stone  which  enters  into 
it  were,  for  this  once,  relieved  of  that  inability  that 
rests  upon  matter  to  receive,  without  distortion  and 
marring,  the  ideal  of  the  workman.  It  seems  like  a 
creation  of  the  fancy,  that  somehow  has  crystallized — 
somehow  embodied  itself  without  the  touch  of  hand, 
and  not  something  chiseled  out  block  by  block. 


440  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

But  to  the  perfection  of  graceful  form  and  the 
wonderful  harmony  of  proportion,  unsurpassed  by 
the  balanced  symmetries  of  a  Parthenon,  are  added 
the  most  marvelous  richness  and  delicacy  of  orna- 
mentation. Both  the  exterior  and  the  interior  are 
alike  lavishly  embellished ;  yet,  while  the  decorative, 
sculpturesque  work  exhibits  an  Oriental  richness,  it 
never  degenerates  into  extravagance,  but  is  through- 
out characterized  by  the  purest  classic  chasteness. 
Within  and  without  the  white  face  of  the  marble  is 
inlaid  with  texts  from  the  Koran,  the  graceful,  flow- 
ing Arabic  characters  being  employed.  The  almost 
infinite  expenditure  of  labor  in  this  species  of  adorn- 
ment may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the  whole 
of  the  sacred  book  of  Islamism  (which  makes  a  close- 
ly printed  octavo  of  five  hundred  pages)  is  said  to 
be  inlaid  upon  the  mausoleum. 

Within,  the  beauty  seems  more  of  heaven  than  of 
earth.  There  are  marble  screens  of  filigree,  light  as 
zephyr,  formed  of  flowers  and  delicate  arabesques; 
there  are  the  tulip,  the  lotus,  and  the  lily,  cut 
in  marble  white  as  driven  snow;  there  are  broad 
panelings  of  polished  marble,  inlaid  with  gems ; 
and  every  where  are  flowers  and  fruit  and  foli- 
age, all  wondrously  wrought  of  precious  stones. 
"The  beholder  at  once  perceives  that  such  beau- 
tiful and  chaste  ideas  are  intended  to  convey  to 
the   human  mind  and  eye  the  supposed  scenes  of 


Ml 

the  charras  and  indescribable  be; 
Paradi-* . 

dehral  cbaiabf^ 
d  marble  tomb  of 


\ 


-^  loftv  vault  of  tb''^ 

Egyptian,  Assyrian,  i 

'ecorated  with  such  purity  O' 
-tcues8  of  design,  such  ni.  .sm.i; 

>n   of 

\^^;uLJ.   and    hi'  ^ar'T..    i:tiiice(.i    -Xll 

•M<-  that  en(«'i 

lie  apai  i 
I'ectl/  beneatli 
■:      -urrounded  by  a  m^ 
;  arvelou  !>iece  oi 

rich  lace-work,  av  herein  are 

That,  lig.  .  ■■     •''   -  .  :- 

Of  Delhi  or 

>  he   cienotaph  of  the  Empress  is  tbr    rnoFt  "nro- 
fn^ely   pmbellishfHl,  being  complete!' 

.ttItft''s"M^    ,  ■ 


442  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

inlaid  inscriptions,  flowers,  and  arabesques.  In  tlie 
mosaics  of  flowers  and  foliage  all  the  colors  of  nat- 
ure are  reproduced  with  wonderful  fidelity,  even  to 
their  most  delicate  tints  and  shadings,  by  the  skill- 
ful grouping  of  various-hued  stones,  as  chalcedony, 
agate,  carneliau,  jasper,  lapis  lazuli,  heliotrope,  tur- 
quois,  sard,  blood-stone,  and  jade.  More  than  two 
hundred  pieces  of  stone  have  been  counted  in  a  sin- 
gle flower. 

The  foregoing,  we  are  conscious,  gives  a  very  in- 
adequate idea  of  the  richness  and  beauty  of  the  most 
23erfect  monument  ever  raised  to  perpetuate  the  name 
of  a  lost  love.  Perhaps  we  can  best  supplement  its 
incompleteness,  and  best  aid  the  imagination  of  our 
readers  in  forming  a  just  notion  of  its  entrancing 
beauty,  by  illustrating,  as  already  proposed,  by  a  few 
quoted  passages,  the  effect  which  its  architectural 
liarmonies  and  artistic  loveliness  have  produced  upon 
those  that  have  felt  the  power  of  its  presence,  and 
who,  lost  in  admiration,  have  exclaimed,  as  does  But- 
ler in  the  words  of  another:  "Suffice  it — Love  w^as 
its  author.  Beauty  its  inspiration." 

We  give  first  a  short  but  glowing  2:)assage  from 
the  pen  of  Bayard  Taylor :  "  The  hall,  notwithstand- 
ing the  precious  material  of  which  it  is  built,  and  the 
elaborate  finish  of  its  ornaments,  has  a  grave  and 
solemn  eff'ect,  infusing  a  peaceful  serenity  of  mind, 
such  as  ^ve  feel  when  contemplating  a  happy  death. 


MONUMENTS  OF  THE  GREAT  MOGUL  EMPIRE.  443 

Stern,  unimaginative  persons  have  been  known  to 
burst  suddenly  into  tears  on  entering  it;  and  whoever 
can  behold  the  Taj  without  feeling  a  thrill  that  sends 
the  moisture  to  his  eyes  has  no  sense  of  beauty  in 
his  soul.  The  Taj  truly  is,  as  I  have  already  said,  a 
poem.  It  is  not  only  a  pure  architectural  type,  but 
also  a  creation  which  satisfies  the  imagination,  be- 
cause its  characteristic  is  Beauty.  Did  you  ever 
build  a  castle  in  the  air  ?  Here  is  one,  brought 
down  to  earth,  and  fixed  for  the  wonder  of  ages; 
yet  so  light  it  seems,  and  when  seen  from  a  dis- 
tance so  like  a  fabric  of  mist  and  sunbeams,  with  its 
great  dome  soaring  up,  a  silvery  bubble  about  to 
burst  in  the  sun,  that,  even  after  you  have  touched 
it,  and  climbed  to  its  summit,  you  almost  doubt  its 
reality.""^ 

A  lady,  to  whom  can  not  be  denied  a  keen,  dis- 
criminating taste,  and  a  rare  appreciation  of  the  truly 
beautiful  in  art,  thus  expresses  her  admiration :  "  The 
Taj  Mahal  is  usually  deemed  the  most  attractive 
object  [in  the  city  of  Agra],  and,  considered  in  its 
character  of  a  mausoleum,  it  has  not  its  equal  in  the 
world.  The  reader  of  Eastern  romance  may  here  re- 
alize his  dreams  of  fairy -land,  and  contemplate  those 
wondrous  scenes  so  faithfully  delineated  in  the  bril- 
liant pages  of  the  '  Arabian  Nights.'  .  .  .  The  build- 
ing is  composed  of  polished  marV)le  of  tlie  whitest 

*  Bayard  Taylor's  "  India,  China,  and  Japan,"  p.  137. 


444  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

hue ;  and  if  there  be  any  faults  in  the  architecture, 
they  are  lost  in  the  splendor  of  the  material,  which 
conveys  the  idea  of  something  even  more  brilliant 
than  marble,  mother-of-]3earl,  or  glistening  spar.  No 
description  can  do  justice  to  this  shining  edifice, 
which  seems  rather  to  belong  to  the  fanciful  crea- 
tions of  a  dream  than  to  the  sober  realities  of  waking 
life — constructed  of  gathered  moonbeams,  or  the  lilies 
which  spring  in  Paradise."* 

Hear  another  enthusiastic  witness:  "There  never 
was  erected  in  this  Avorld  any  thing  so  perfect  and 
lovely,  save  Solomon's  Temple.  In  gazing  down 
upon  the  scene,  as  the  writer  did  in  the  closing  days 
of  the  terrible  rebellion  in  1858,  the  effect  was  won- 
derful, and  akin  to  those  emotions  that  must  thrill 
the  soul  which  looks  out  foi*  the  first  time  upon  the 
plains  of  heaven.  Every  thing  that  could  remind 
one  of  ruin  and  misery  seemed  so  far  away,  that  as 
we  sat,  and  the  delighted  eyes  drank  in  the  scene 
before  tliem,  terminated  by  the  gorgeous  fane  as  it 
rose  up  toward  the  blue  and  cloudless  sky,  we 
thought  if  John  Bunyan  could  have  shared  the 
opportunity  he  would  surely  have  imagined  his 
dreams  realized,  and  believed  himself  looking  over 
tlie  battlements  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  and  viewing 
tliat  '  region  of  eternal  day'  where  holiness  and  peace 
are  typified  by  pearls  and  gold,  and  all  manner  of 

*  "  Sketches  and  Characteristics  of  Hindustan,"  by  Emma  Roberts. 


M0NU3IENTS   OF  THE   GREAT   MOGUL  EilPIRE.    445 

precious  stones,  with  the  fountain  of  life,  clear  as 
crystal,  proceeding  from  the  throne  of  God  and  the 
Lamb;'* 

We  forbear  speaking  in  detail  of  the  other  art 
wonders  of  imperial  Agra,  through  fear  of  satiating 
our  readers;  we  will  simply  make  the  briefest  pos- 
sible allusion  to  some  of  the  features  of  the  more 
noted  of  the  remaiuins;  relics  of  the  Mohammedan 
emj)erors  which  have  contributed  to  the  renown  of 
this  city  of  Akbar.  Within  the  Fort,  which  is  itself 
a  most  imposing  structure — whose  embrasured  walls, 
nearly  two  miles  in  circuit,  threateningly  overhang 
the  Jumna — is  the  Palace  of  Akbar,  which,  although 
it  has  suffered  somewhat  from  time  and  violence,  still 
displays  much  of  its  former  splendor.  At  the  time 
of  our  visit,  the  work  of  restoring  some  injured  por- 
tions was  being  prosecuted  by  the  English  govern- 
ment. The  courts,  chambers,  baths,  fountains,  corri- 
dors, and  pavilions,  all  of  carved  marble,  still  attest 
the  luxurious  character  of  the  palace.  Marble  screens, 
wrought  with  fairy-like  delicacy,  seclude  the  gaze  of 
the  world  from  the  chambers  of  the  zenana,  and  give 
privacy  to  the  corridors  and  pavilions,  which  were 
the  frequent  resort  of  the  fair  sultanas. 

The  "  palace  of  glass,"  which  is  the  name  given  to 
the  principal  bath,  is  the  most  brilliant  chamber  of 
the   palace.     When   we    saw  it,  the   fountains    had 

*  Dr.  Butler's  "Land  of  the  Veda,"  p.  142. 


446  REMAINS    OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

ceased  to  play,  and  the  pool  was  dry;  but  all  the 
adornments  of  the  room  were  still  as  of  old.  Ever}' 
portion  of  the  wall  is  covered  with  little  mirrors,  so 
that  whichever  way  you  turn  you  meet  hundreds  of 
repeated  images.  The  floor  is  inlaid  with  vines  and 
flowers  and  arabesques  of  such  beauty  and  richness 
that  one  fancies  one's  self  really  within  the  chambers 
of  Aladdin's  Palace. 

Also  embraced  by  the  walls  of  the  Fort  is  the 
Moti  Musjed,  or  Pearl  Mosque,  which  in  the  purity 
of  the  material  used  in  its  construction  is  the  rival 
of  the  little  royal  mosque  at  Delhi.  Surmounting 
the  building  are  three  marble  domes,  so  perfect  in 
their  swelling  outlines,  so  airily  2)oised,  that  they 
seem  "like  silvery  bubbles  which  have  rested  for  a 
moment  on  the  wall,  and  wdiich  the  next  breeze  must 
sweep  away." — (Bayard  Taylor.) 

Just  outside  the  Fort  is  the  Jumna  Musjed,  a 
.  mosque  of  imposing  proportions,  but  a  structure 
which  in  beauty  and  artistic  merit  must  not  for  a 
moment  be  allowed  a  place  by  the  side  of  the  Mosque 
of  Pearl.  The  platform  upon  which  it  stands  is  so 
elevated  that  its  great  domes  soar  far  above  all  the 
other  edifices  of  Asjra.  The  tombs  of  Elmad-ood- 
Doulah  and  of  Akbar  are  both  mausolean  structures 
that,  notwitlistanding  they  exhibit  sadly  the  wear 
of  time,  must  l>e  placed  among  the  most  beautiful 
relics  of  Oriental  architecture. 


MONUMENTS   OF   THE   GREAT   MOGUL  ElMPIRE.    447 

One  is  bewildered  amid  all  these  superb  memorials 
of  Moslem  power  and  glory.  The  surroundings  of 
the  imperial  court  of  the  Great  Moguls  in  the  city 
of  Agra,  we  perhaps  venture  nothing  in  saying,  were 
more  magnificent  and  luxurious  than  those  of  any 
other  that  ever  lorded  it  over  the  East.  "  Such  pal- 
aces and  paradises  for  the  living,  such  mausoleums 
for  the  dead,  such  shrines  for  religion,"  at  least  nev- 
er all  lent  their  grandeur  or  loveliness  to  the  embel- 
lishment of  any  single  Oriental  capital.  Nineveh 
may  have  been  unrivaled  in  her  palaces;  Babylon 
in  her  temples ;  Shiraz  and  Cashmere  in  their  royal 
paradises :  but  imperial  Agra  gathered  all  these  crea- 
tions about  herself,  in  one  wondrous  phalanx  of  mag- 
nificence and  beauty. 

After  having  viewed  the  wonderful  architectural 
monuments  of  Delhi  and  Agra,  we  proceeded  on 
down  the  country,  only  taking  a  glimpse  of  the  his- 
toric cities  of  Cawnpore  and  Lucknow,  as  they  are 
famous  alone  for  their  awful  reminiscences  of  the 
great  Sepoy  rebellion  in  1857.  At  the  former  place, 
standing  in  the  midst  of  a  beautiful  garden,  is  the 
monumental  shrine  which  holds  in  remembrance  the 
victims  of  that  terrible  massacre  that  in  the  dark 
days  of  the  rebellion  sent  such  a  thrill  of  horror 
through  the  Christian  world. 

By  treachery.  Nana  Sahib,  an  incarnate  fiend,  and 
his  Sej^oys,  had  overpowered  and  cut  to  pieces  the 


448  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

gallant  defenders  of  Cawnpore,  and  crowded  into  a 
small  building,  near  where  the  monument  now  stands, 
two  hundred  helpless  women  and  children.  The  gal- 
lant Havelock,  only  a  few  days  distant,  was  hurrying 
to  the  relief  of  the  little  company.  Fearful  of  the 
rescue  of  his  prisoners,  Nana  Sahib  ordered  that  they 
should  be  butchered.  Five  hired  assassins  entered 
the  building  with  their  knives;  and  they  and  God 
only  know  the  scenes  in  that  slaughter-pen  during 
the  next  two  hours.  The  bodies  were  dragged  out 
and  thrown  into  the  neighboring  well:  the  sight  of 
these  mangled  bodies,  heaped  in  the  pit,  and  of  the 
rooms  of  the  building  where  they  were  butchered, 
"  almost  ankle  deep  in  blood,"  was  the  cruel  reward 
that  awaited  the  brave  men  who  had  so  gallantly 
cut  their  way  through  successive  rebel  armies,  while 
nerved  with  the  hope  of  carrying  deliverance  to  the 
fated  band.  The  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta  and  the 
Slaughter-pen  of  Cawnpore  have  memories  too  ter- 
rible to  be  ever  outlived.  They  will  never  permit 
to  be  forgotten  the  fiendish,  hellish  spirit  that  ani- 
mated the  Sepoy  rebellion. 

Two  days'  march  from  Cawnpore  was  Lucknow, 
where  seventy  thousand  Sepoys  were  beleaguering 
another  devoted  company,  and  thirsting  for  their 
blood.  Could  they  be  saved  ?  The  world  knows 
what  the  noble  Havelock  and  his  brave  men  did  to 
save  them — how  again  and  again  they  endeavored  to 


MONTOIENTS   OF   THE   GREAT  MOGUL  EMPIRE.    449 

cut  their  way  through  the  hosts  that  stood  between 
them  and  the  city — how,  when  at  last  the  city  was 
reached,  that  little  handful  of  men  fought  for  two 
days  in  the  barricaded  streets  with  the  human  tigers, 
who  seemed  mad  with  rage  at  the  possibility  of  their 
prey  being  rescued  from  them — how  at  last  the  Resi- 
dency was  reached — and  the  thrilling  meeting — and 
how  the  gallant  Sir  Colin  and  his  men  cut  their  way 
in  to  rescue  the  rescuers.  Fourteen  hundred  men, 
women,  and  children  were  saved;  but  more  than 
the  same  number  of  brave  men  died  to  redeem  them 
from  the  fate  of  the  devoted  band  at  Cawnpore. 

The  almost  superhuman  achievements  of  English 
soldiers  upon  the  battle-fields  of  India  are  the  ad- 
miration of  history.  The  fire  of  India's  climate  seems 
to  course  in  their  veins,  so  that  the  excitement  of 
battle  awakens  a  sleeping  tiger.  The  character  of 
the  foe  they  have  fought  has  also  served  to  arouse  a 
most  terrible  determination.  The  fiendish  atrocities 
and  butcheries  perpetrated  by  the  Sepoy  rebels  is 
what  fired  Havelock's  men  with  such  resolution,  and 
gave  such  awful  and  irresistible  impetuosity  to  their 
terrible  charges.  The  memories  of  the  heroes  of 
those  dark  days  of  1857-8  set  all  a-fire  the  spirit 
of  the  English  soldier  in  India.  We  have  seen  the 
young  ofiicer  almost  transported  by  the  intensity  of 
his  feelings  while  recounting  to  us  the  thrilling  ex- 
ploits of  those  times.    If  there  be  any  thing  of  worth 


450  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

or  inspiration  in  a  grand  historical  reminiscence,  En- 
gland's sons,  on  India's  future  battle-fields,  will  never 
fall  below  those  heroes  who,  during  the  terror  and 
darkness  of  the  Sepoy  mutiny,  stood  so  undauntedly 
between  all  the  "  tremendous  interests  of  Christian 
civilization  in  India  and  the  East"  and  the  fiendish 
assaults  of  combined  Mohammedan  and  Brahminical 
hatred  and  diabolism. 

From  the  sad  memories  of  Lucknow  and  war  we 
turn  now  to  religion.  Only  twenty  miles  by  rail 
from  Cawnpore  is  Benares — the  "  Athens  of  India," 
and  the  "  sacred  city  of  the  Hindus."  This  city  has 
been  the  centre  of  the  intellectual,  and  especially 
the  religious  life  of  Hindustan.  "  By  reason  of  some 
subtile  and  mysterious  charm,"  writes  Sherring,  "it 
has  linked  itself  with  the  religious  sympathies  of  the 
Hindus  through  every  century  of  its  existence.  For 
the  sanctity  of  its  inhabitants — of  its  temples  and 
reservoirs — of  its  wells  and  streams — of  the  very  soil 
that  is  trodden — of  the  very  air  that  is  breathed — 
and  of  every  thing  in  and  around  it,  Benares  has 
been  famed  for  tliousands  of  years."  If  a  hoary  an- 
tiquity may  confer  sanctity,  then  Benares  is  truly 
sacred ;  for  more  than  a  score  of  centuries  ago  it 
was  a  place  of  holy  veneration,  to  whose  shrines  pil- 
grimages were  undertaken  from  the  remotest  por- 
tions of  India,  which  has  led  to  its  being  termed  the 
"Mecca"  of  Hinduism. 


MONOIEXTS   OF  THE   GREAT   MOGUL   EMPIRE.    45 1 

Benares  is  situated  upon  the  banks  of  tlie  sacred 
Ganges,  being  built  upon  an  abrupt  bluff,  so  that  its 
buildings  overhang  the  river  in  successive  terraces. 
The  view  of  the  city  from  the  opj^osite  bank  of  the 
Ganges  is  considered  one  of  the  finest  city  scenes  in 
India;  and  some  enthusiastic  writers  have  declared 
it  to  surpass  any  similar  view  in  the  world.  The 
advice  of  a  friend  to  us  was,  "  Go  and  look  at  the 
city  across  the  river,,  and  then  come  away."  The 
view  over  the  Ganges  is  certainly  impressive.  The 
city  has  a  river  front  of  about  three  miles;  the  ter- 
raced mass  of  buildings  being  broken  by  the  pinna- 
cles of  scores  of  temples,  and  crowned  by  the  great 
Mosque  of  Aurungzebe,  whose  lofty  minarets  tower 
far  above  all  into  the  blue  of  the  heavens. 

We  crossed  the  river  in  a  native  boat,  first  towing 
a  long  way  above  the  city,  that  the  current  might 
not  carry  us  too  far  below  the  point  at  which  we  de- 
sired to  land.  The  ghauts,  or  flights  of  stone  steps, 
already  alluded  to,  swarmed  with  the  inhabitants  of 
the  city,  who  were  crowding  down  to  the  river,  to 
relieve  themselves  at  once  of  dirt  and  sin  in  the  sa- 
cred waters. 

We  found  the  streets  of  the  city  to  be  gloomy, 
narrow  lanes,  from  which  the  light  of  the  sun  was 
so  excluded  by  the  lofty  buildings,  which  were  sel- 
dom less  than  two  or  three,  and  frequently  of  five 
stories  in  height,  that  we  seemed  to  be  threading 


452  RExMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

the  maze  of  a  semi  -  subterranean  labyrinth.  le 
great  Mosque  of  Auruugzebe,  erected  by  the  emp-^ror 
whose  name  it  bears  (who  destroyed  the  princip;  ^ 
Hindu  temples  in  Benares,  and  above  their  ruins 
raised  this  symbol  of  the  faith  of  the  conquerors  of 
India) ;  the  famous  astronomical  observatory,  built 
A.D.  IGOO,  by  Manasimha;  the  temple  sacred  to 
monkeys,  where  the  groves  were  filled  with  the  agile 
little  deities— all  these  things  had  their  peculiar  in- 
terest ;  but  what  interested  us  most,  and  left  the  deep- 
est impression  upon  our  imagination,  was  the  throng- 
ing of  the  people  to  tlieir  shrines,  and  their  heathen- 
ish rites  of  worship  there. 

We  had  always  experienced  a  difficulty  in  forming 
other  than  very  vague  conceptions  of  the  rites  and 
orgies  of  classic  or  pagan  worship.  But  here  we 
seemed  to  have  had  realized  for  us  the  vision  of 
Ezekiel.  We  seemed  to  have  entered  the  Chambers 
of  Imager}',  and  seen  there  all  the  abominations  that 
they  do.  The  city  of  Benares  is  filled  with  shrines 
and  temples:  Prinseps  enumerated  over  one  thousand 
Hindu  temples  and  nearly  three  hundred  Mohamme- 
d'du  mosques.  Sherring  devotes  the  larger  part  of 
a  considerable  volume  to  what  amounts  to  scarcely 
more  than  a  categorical  mention  of  the  principal  of 
these  edifices.  The  ^valls  of  the  streets  are  filled 
with  little  niches,  holding  hideously  shaped  and 
[)ainted  Hindu  deities.     The  people  are  mad  u])on 


MONUMENTS  OF  THE  GREAT  MOGUL  EMPIRE.  453 

tb       idols.     It  is  estimated  that  there  are  over  five 
huncired  thousand  enshrined  deities  in  the  city. 

Attended  by  a  number  of  the  native  English  po- 
lice, we  visited  several  of  the  temples.  The  people 
about  these  shrines  seemed  to  be  ravins:.  As  much 
as  we  had  mingled  among  Eastern  fanatics,  we  now 
felt,  for  the  first  time,  that  our  lives  were  in  danger 
from  the  violence  of  religious  fanaticism.  Unpro- 
tected, ^ve  should  not  have  dared  to  set  foot  with- 
in the  limits  of  any  of  the  temples ;  but  before  our 
guides  the  crowd  sulkily  gave  way,  and  we  were 
able  to  enter  one  after  another  of  the  shrines.  The}^ 
were  perfect  sties,  offensive  to  every  sense.  The 
idols  were  dripping  with  the  filth  of  offerings,  which 
consisted  of  ghee  (butter),  sugar,  rice,  flowers,  and 
leaves,  mingled  with  the  sacred  waters  of  the  Ganges, 
with  which  they  were  kept  constantly  wet.  The 
bullocks,  confined  within  the  temples,  received  with 
more  appreciation  the  offerings  made  to  them.  They 
were  fat  and  sleek,  and  certainly  had  no  occasion  to 
lament  that  the  fates  had  exalted  them  to  be  as  gods. 
Suspended  from  the  roof  of  the  temple,  and  swingino- 
near  the  idols,  were  little  bells,  which  those  making 
offerings  rung,  to  call  the  attention  of  the  god,  should 
his  thoughts  happen  to  be  abstracted.  To  enumerate 
all  the  abominations  that  we  saw  within  those  tem- 
ples would  be  to  exceed  the  credulity  of  our  readers. 
We  never  imagined  that  pven  any  heathen  faith  could 


454  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

be  charged  with  such  absurd  and  revolting  rites  as  a 
part  of  its  regular  worship.  The  diabolical  sensual- 
ism stamped  u2:)on  the  countenances  of  the  half  naked 
Brahmins  and  fakirs,  and  the  wretched,  fanatic  aspect 
of  the  women  that  crowded  about  these  shrines, 
caused  us,  protected  though  we  were,  to  shrink  back 
through  fear  as  well  as  loathing.  Those  who  find 
pleasure  in  exalting  the  divine  purity  of  Brahminism 
should  picture  to  their  readers  its  benign  effects  upon 
society  in  the  most  sacred  city  of  Benares.  It  is 
among  such  scenes  of  the  pagan  world  that  the  phi- 
lanthropist exalts  and  blesses  Christianity  for  the 
boon  that  it  has  brought  to  man. 

From  Benares  we  proceeded  without  delay  to  Cal- 
cutta; for  between  these  cities  there  is  little  of  in- 
terest to  detain  the  traveler ;  besides,  H 's  failing 

health  rendered  us  anxious  to  terminate  our  overland 
journeyings.  We  spent  two  weeks  in  the  city  of 
Calcutta,  and  then,  as  the  unhealthful  season  was 
approaching,  hastened  our  departure  for  the  more 
bracing  air  of  the  Isle  of  Ceylon. 


PROGRESS  IN  THE  EAST.  455 


CHAPTER  XVIL 

PKOGRESS     IN    THE    EAST. 

The  Great  Moguls. — The  Eiiglisli  in  India. — East  India  Company. — 
'  India  as  England's  Ward. — The  Establishment  of  Order  and  Good 
Government. — Railways. — Their  Effect  on  Caste. — Steamship  Lines. 
— Municipal  Improvements. — Schools  and  the  Press. — Hinduism. — 
Influence  of  Western  Science  on  Eastern  Mythologies. — Has  there 
been  More  than  One  Centre  of  Revelation  ? — Hinduism  versus  Chris- 
tianity.— Shall  we  Civilize  but  not  Christianize  ? — Civilization  and 
Christianity  Inseparable.  —  India's  Position  in  the  History  of  the 
East. — General  Awakening  in  Asia. — Sclavonic  Influence  in  Central 
Asia. — Alleged  Inferiority  of  the  Asiatic  Mind. — Religious  Instinct  of 
the  Oriental. — The  Future  of  Asia  viewed  in  the  Light  of  the  Past. — 
Immobility  of  Oriental  Races. — Cause  to  be  found  in  their  Religious 
Systems. — Progress  not  Metamorphosis. — Relations  of  the  West  to 
the  East. 

The  great  Mogul  Empire  in  India  has  passed 
away,  and  another,  emanating  from  the  foremost  of 
European  nations,  has  been  established  over  that 
ancient  people.  What  difference  is  there  between 
this  English  occupancy  and  ihd  Mongol  conquest? 
Many  of  England's  critics  are  ready  to  protest  that 
she  has  no  more  legitimate  business  in  India  than 
had  the  Great  Moguls.  Grand  fundamental  distinc- 
tions, however,  characterize  these  two  empires  in  In- 
dia. History  may  seem  to  be  constantly  resurrecting 
past  epochs,  and  dragging  man  again  through  their 
wearying  lengths  of  woe  and  harassing  experiences ; 

IT  n 


456  REJVIAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

but  in  triitli  sine  never  thus  turns  back  to  retraverse 
battle-fields  once  left  behind.  Now  the  great  Mogul 
Empire  in  India  was  the  representation  of  an  age 
and  of  principles  that  have  alike  passed  away.  It 
was  established,  as  we  have  already  seen,  by  a  race 
whose  instincts  and  traditions  taught  them  that  the 
enrichment  and  aggrandizement  of  the  conqueroi- 
was  a  justifiable  motive  for  conquest,  and  sufficient 
extenuation  for  inflicting  upon  a  subjected  people 
every  burden  and  cruelty ;  and  this  maxim,  in  fact, 
shaped  that  empire,  and  determined  every  relation  it 
sustained  to  the  conquered  natives  of  India.  Those 
Mohammedan  rulers  certainly  never  imposed  their 
religion  bodily  upon  the  Hindus;  but  that  w^as  a 
toleration  of  necessity,  rather  than  a  toleration  of 
spirit.  They  left  behind  them,  it  is  true,  some  mag- 
nificent and  inimitable  architectural  monuments ;  but 
those  pavilioned  marble  audience-halls,  mausoleums, 
and  palaces  which  we  have  viewed  in  wonderment 
only  witness  with  what  reckless  disregard  for  their 
subjects'  welfare  those  sovereigns  employed  the 
wealth  and  labor  of  the  nation  for  the  cri'atification 
of  personal  vanity  or  caprice.  They  did  nothing  for 
the  education  and  permanent  U2:>lifting  of  the  people 
they  had  conquered.  Their  rule  was  an  unmitigated 
curse  to  the  people  upon  whom  they  imposed  it.* 

*  "It  may  lie  doubted  wliether  any  part  of  the  world  was  ever  so 
cursed  l)y  a  line  of  bigoted,  ferocious  wretches  as,  with  two  or  three 


PROGRESS  IN  THE  EAST.  457 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  stronger  historical 
contrast  than  is  exhibited  by  this  record  of  the 
great  Mogul  monarchy  and  that  of  the  English  Em- 
pire in  India.  It  is  no  part  of  our  purpose  to  say 
any  thing  here  in  extenuation  of  the  many  unwar- 
rantable acts  i^rominent  in  this  latter  conquest ;  but 
we  may  simply  observe  that  the  assumptions  of  the 
English  in  India  have  never  aj)proached  those  by 
which  we  have  justified  an  almost  total  ignoring  of 
the  rio'hts  of  the  autochthones  of  our  own  continent. 
After  England  had  once  founded  tradino;  communi- 
ties  and  established  commercial  relations  with  the  na- 
tives, her  succeeding  steps  were  necessitated  by  the 
very  pressure  of  events.  Refractory  native  princes 
that  attacked  her  communities  or  threatened  her  in- 
terests must  necessarily  be  deposed;  and  thus  prov- 
ince after  province  fell  under  English  authority.  We 
must  also  discriminate  between  the  English  govern- 
ment and  her  agents.  That  gigantic  monopoly,  the 
East  India  Company,  which,  till  the  great  Sepoy  re- 
bellion in  1857-8,  controlled  the  affairs  of  India,  is 
alone  responsible-  for  the  greater  portion  of  those  acts 

exceptions,  were  these  Mohammedan  deposits  of  India.  ...  To  many 
of  them  may  be  truly  applied  the  terrible  lines  of  Moore : 

"'One  of  that  saintly,  murderous  brood, 
To  carriage  and  the  Koran  given, 
Who  think  through  unbelievers'  blood 
Lies  their  directest  path  to  heaven !' " 

—Dr.  Butler's  "Land  of  the  Veda,"  p.  104. 


458  EEMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

;md  measures  Avliicli  cast  such  a  dark  reflection  upon 
the  earliest  records  of  the  English  in  India.  The  sin 
of  the  English  government  in  these  things  was  rather 
permissive  than  voluntary.  When  at  last  the  terrible 
experience  of  the  Sepo}^  mutiny  aroused  the  people 
of  England  to  a  sense  of  the  wrong  India  was  suffer- 
ing at  the  hands  of  their  grasping  and  conscience- 
less agents,  they  at  once  demanded  that  the  trust  be 
taken  from  them.  Thus  in  the  darkness  of  the  Sepoy 
rebellion  the  sun  of  the  East  India  Company  went 
out  forever.  The  English  government  then  took  In- 
dia as  her  special  w\ard.  Since  that  time  England 
has  "  ruled  in  India  for  India."  The  representative 
portion  of  the  Anglo-Indian  and  home  press,  in  all  its 
discussions  of  the  affairs  of  that  country,  displays  an 
exact  impartiality  and  careful  conscientiousness,  al- 
ways asking,  Will  this  be  promotive  of  India's  wel- 
fare ?  There  is  now  a  national  recognition  of  respon- 
sibility arising  from  this  wardship.  England  sees 
that  her  position  in  that  country  is  a  providential 
one ;  and  that  she  realizes  its  full  significance  is  evi- 
denced by  the  efforts  she  is  now  making  to  bring  the 
millions  of  India  under  all  those  inspiring  and  elevat- 
ing political,  social,  and  educational  influences  which 
she  has  to  impart. 

The  natives  perceive  this  effort  which  is  being 
made  for  them,  and  notwithstanding  some  ungra- 
ciously persist  in  believing  that  England's  conscience 


PROGRESS  IN  THE  EAST.  459 

is  troubling  her  because  of  past  acts,  and  that  now 
she  is  prudently  endeavoring  to  lay  up  something 
on  the  credit  side  of  her  account  in  heaven  (all 
Orientals  have  a  debit  and  credit  account  with  the 
other  world),  there  is  among  the  Hindus  generally 
an  appreciative  recognition  of  her  efforts  to  meet 
faithfully  the  obligations  of  her  guardianship.  The 
most  thoughtful  of  the  native  leaders  are  often  at  a 
loss  to  find  words  sufficiently  expressive  of  their  ad- 
miration of  their  conqueror's  forbearance,  or  that 
shall  adequately  embody  their  sense  of  the  immense 
advantages  accruing  to  their  fellow-countrymen  from 
English  rule.  And  when  we  observe  the  political 
and  social  transformation  that  the  country  has  un- 
dergone since  the  entrance  of  the  English,  w^e  do  not 
wonder  at  the  native  encomiums  of  their  present 
rulers :  contrasting  with  the  oppression,  anarchy,  gen- 
eral insecurity,  and  violence  which  characterized  the 
reigns  of  their  Mohammedan  princes,  they  have  to- 
day peace,  security,  and  prosperity. 

One  is  perfectly  astonished  to  see  what  a  gigantic 
work  England  is  doing  in  India.  All  the  intricate 
machinery  of  a  well-balanced  government  is  set  up, 
and  in  its  operations  reaches  all  the  infinitely  mul- 
tiplied interests  of  two  hundred  million  people.  Life 
and  property  are  as  secure  in  India  to-day  as  in  En- 
gland.    Sutteeism  has  been  interdicted;*  and  Thug- 

*  For  a  very  interesting  paper  "  On  the  supposed  Vedic  authority 


460  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

gism,  which  so  recently  carried  terror  to  the  people 
and  defiance  to  the  rulers,  has  been  suppressed  with 
a  strong  hand.  This  establishment  of  order  and 
good  government  over  such  violent,  contending,  and 
demoralized  communities  is  in  itself  a  stupendous 
achievement. 

But  England  does  not  halt  here :  this  is  but  pre- 
liminary to  her  real  work.  She  has  given  to  India 
all  the  material  improvements  and  appliances  of 
modern  civilization.  A  perfect  network  of  rail- 
ways stretches  over  the  j)eniusula:  it  is  now  but  a 
pleasant  excursion  from  Bombay  to  Calcutta,  or  from 
the  shadow  of  the  Himalayas  to  the  surf  of  Cape 
Comorin.  Between  five  and  six  thousand  miles  of 
railway  are  already  completed,  and  two  thousand 
more  are  to  be  finished  within  the  next  five  years. 
It  is  difficult  to  estimate  the  good  results  that  have 
followed  the   introduction    of  railroads   into  India. 

for  the  burning  of  Hindu  widows,  and  on  the  funeral  ceremonies  of  the 
Hindus,"  see  "  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,"  vol.  xx., art.  xi.,  by 
Professor  II.  H.Wilson.  Professor  Wilson  proves  that  not  only  is  there 
no  authority  in  tlie  Vedas  for  the  burning  of  the  widow  with  the  body 
of  licr  deceased  husband,  but  that  they  directly  discountenance  it.  He 
points  out  "a  willful  alteration  of  the  text"  of  the  Rig  Veda — an  act 
which  has  been  charged  upon  the  Brahmins,  and  doubtless  justly,  that 
the  costly  ceremony  miglit  bring  presents  and  advantages  to  them- 
selves. We  quote  from  Professor  Wilson's  paper  the  following  pas- 
sage illustrating  the  change  in  the  original  text :  "  The  words  are  dro- 
hantu  yonim  (((jrc^  literally, '  lot  them  (the  widows)  go  up  into  the  dwell- 
ing first;'  the  reading  to  which  it  has  been  altered  is,  drohantu  yonim 
agneh,  'let  them  go  up  to  the  place  of  the  fire:'  agneh,  iho  genitive  of 
<iffni,  having  been  substituted  for  agre,  locative  agra  used  adverbially." 


PROGRESS   IN  THE   EAST.  4gl 

Civilization,  instead  of  being  practically  confined  to 
a  few  trading  sea-ports,  now  comes  in  contact  with 
the  inhabitants  of  every  city  in  the  empire.  Thus 
India  is  advanced  centuries  at  a  leap.  The  refusal 
of  the  railroad  companies  to  provide  separate  coaches 
for  the  different  castes  has  forced  the  people  to  lay 
aside,  to  a  certain  degree,  their  scrupulous  adhesion 
to  caste  distinctions,  and  thus  this  absurd,  tyrannical 
system  has  received  a  rude  shock.  The  people  must 
travel :  the  high-caste  Brahmin  might  avoid  the  com- 
pany of  the  despised  Sudra  by  taking  a  "  first  class ;" 
but  money  is  stronger  than  caste.  Thus  the  intro- 
duction of  the  locomotive  has  set  the  selfishness  of 
the  Hindu  in  conflict  with  his  detestable  social  and 
religious  pride;  Christianity  enlists  all  the  better 
sentiments  against  it ;  one  need  be  neither  a  seer  nor 
the  son  of  a  seer  to  predict  what  the  end  of  all  this 
will  be.  The  Mormons  propose  an  exodus  from  Utah 
to  get  away  from  railways  and  telegraphs ;  caste  and 
superstition  may  as  well  be  preparing  for  a  general 
exodus  from  India — they  are  anachronisms  in  an  age 
of  railroads  and  universal  commerce.  But  this  is 
]jut  one  of  the  blessings  following  the  establishment 
of  these  lines  of  railway  communication.  They  in- 
troduce all  the  hurry  and  healthy  excitement  of  our 
Western  life :  the  people  are  awakened — they  travel, 
think,  intermingle.  The  pulse  of  the  nation  begins 
to  beat ;  circulation  is  qvickened ;  and  under  the  im- 


462  REMAINS    OF  LOST   EMPIRES. 

pulses  of  a  new  life  tlie  people  begin  to  move  for- 
ward. 

The  steamship  lines  that  have  been  established 
upon  Indian  waters  are  the  counterpart  of  the  rail- 
way systems  of  the  peninsula.  All  the  ports  of  the 
country  are  crowded  with  the  vessels  of  numerous 
competing  lines;  flotillas  pass  up  and  down  the  In- 
dus, and  great  steamers  frisk  the  sacred  waters  of  the 
Ganges.  Telegraphic  wires  unite  all  the  principal 
cities,  so  that  the  government  at  Calcutta  is  hourly 
advised  of  what  is  going  on  in  every  corner  of  its 
empire.  Railroads  and  telegraphs  have  fairly  pre- 
cluded the  possibility  of  another  Sepoy  rebellion ; 
and  this  assurance  against  the  premature  destruction 
of  the  English  government  in  India,  and  the  violent 
overthrow  of  all  that  has  been  secured  thus  far,  lends 
confidence  and  certainty  to  the  future. 

The  gigantic  works  of  internal  improvement — such 
as  the  great  Gangetic  Canal,  which  irrigates  from  three 
to  four  million  acres — that  connect  themselves  direct- 
ly with  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  country,  are 
in  keeping  with  all  those  other  stupendous  enter- 
prises at  w^hich  we  have  simply  glanced,  and  which 
never  fail  of  exciting  the  astonishment  and  admii-a- 
tion  of  every  traveler  in  British  India.  The  cities, 
too,  are  gradually  undergoing  a  complete  sanatorial 
and  architectural  change :  Bombay,  Calcutta,  Madras, 
Allahabad,  and  Lahore  seem  each  to  have  a  khedive 


PROGRESS   IX  THE  EAST.  463 

ambitious  to  create  another  Cairo.  Civilization  can 
not  live  within  mud  walls.  The  j^lan  of  the  Kev. 
Naravan  Sheshaclri  to  found  a  Christian  villao-e  as  a 
model  for  the  nativ^es  is  simply  indicative  of  the 
desire  which  the  presence  and  example  of  the  En- 
glish have  awakened  for  an  improved  domestic  ar- 
chitecture. 

The  progress  which  India  has  made  in  material 
improvement  within  the  last  half- century  is  only 
equaled  by  her  intellectual  advance  during  the  same 
period.  Schools,  colleges,  and  the  press  have  been 
at  work  disseminating  new  ideas  among  the  peo23le, 
revolutioniziuo;  their  modes  of  thousiht,  and  creatino- 
a  healthier  moral  and  intellectual  atmosphere,  which 
is  inspiring  with  new  life  the  native  stupor  of  the 
Hindu.  It  is  not  alone  our  missionaries  who  are 
founding  educational  institutions ;  but  wealthy  na- 
tives, catching  the  spirit  of  the  new  literary  enthusi- 
asm, instead  of  building  shrines  and  temples,  are  es- 
tablishing and  endowing  schools,  and  becoming  the 
patrons  of  education.  Governmental  academies  and 
colleges  are  also  springing  up  on  every  hand  to  meet 
the  constantly  increasing  demand  for  Western  science 
and  learning.  Within  the  period  of  w^hich  we  are 
speaking  journalism  has  grown  into  a  most  signifi- 
cant educational  and  political  power.  Four  hundred 
and  thirty  papers  are  now  published  in  British  In- 
dia; over  two  hundred  of  these  are  edited  in  the 


464  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

native  languages,  tlie  remainder  in  English,  or  in 
English  and  the  vernacular.  The  influence  of  these 
journals  in  elevating  the  standard  of  education  and 
morality,  by  sowing  healthy  ideas  broadcast  among 
the  people,  is  simply  incalculable.  Discussion,  too, 
is  stirred  up,  and  the  people  are  set  to  thinking 
about  social,  educational,  political,  and  religious  prob- 
lems. When  we  consider  how  suddenly  this  tre- 
mendous agency  in  the  awakening  and  regeneration 
of  India  has  sprung  into  existence,  it  is  difficult  to 
think  without  enthusiasm  of  the  vast  power  which 
journalism  must  wield  over  the  millions  of  her  j^eo- 
ple  during  the  coming  century.  The  press  will  never 
allow  India  to  drop  back  again  into  the  torpor  and 
stagnation  of  the  past. 

But  in  the  midst  of  all  this  stir  and  bustle  of 
material  and  intellectual  progress  there  is  springing 
up  a  new  religious  life.  Hinduism  is  giving  way  to 
Christianity  (the  evangelical  missions  number  their 
converts  at  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand).  No 
other  result  could  possibly  be  expected  from  the 
movement  of  things  in  India.  Christianity  is  an  in- 
separable element  of  European  civilization :  it  is  in- 
terwoven with  the  arts,  sciences,  and  philosophies  of 
Europe ;  and  India,  in  the  reception  of  these,  breathes 
in  unconsciously  the  spirit  that  pervades  and  vital- 
izes them. 

Hinduism  holds  within  itself  the  elements  of  self 


PROGRESS   IN  THE   EAST,  465 

destruction.  Its  weakness,  as  lias  been  often  ob- 
served, consists  in  its  purely  religious  ideas  being  so 
intimately  interwoven  with  the  absurdities  of  a  false 
science  that  Hindu  religion  and  science  must  stand 
or  fall  together.  But  what  defense  can  its  everlast- 
ing chronology,  its  monstrous  cosmogony,  its  puerile 
geographical  ideas,  its  absurd  astronomical  teachings, 
make  before  the  questionings  of  European  knowl- 
edge ?  Its  errors,  its  superstitions,  its  absurdities,  its 
uncouth  mythological  creations,  can  no  more  live  in 
the  atmosj^here  of  the  present  than  could  the  favorite 
fauns  and  nymphs,  gods  and  goddesses,  and  apothe- 
osized heroes  of  the  old  Greek  mythology  or  the  Ro- . 
man  pantheon.  The  whole  system,  venerable  though 
it  be  in  its  antiquity,  must  inevitably  crumble  be- 
neath the  touch  of  the  Ithuriel  spear  of  modern  sci- 
ence. With  this  fact  before  our  minds,  we  can  not 
fail  of  being  impressed  with  that  providential  direc- 
tion of  events  which  is  now  bringing  the  science  and 
knowledge  of  the  West  in  such  broad  contact  with  the 
error-built  institutions  of  the  East.  The  attractions 
of  trade  and  commerce  have  drawn  Asia  near  to  Eu- 
rope ;  and  through  the  medium  of  railroads,  tele- 
graphs, schools,  and  presses,  a  flood  of  new  ideas,  pro- 
foundly subversive  of  the  time-honored  faiths  of  ig- 
norance and  superstition,  are  being  poured  in  upon 
her  people. 

But  in  relegating  to  the  limbo  of  forgotten  things 


466  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

the  faith  that  has  been  believed  in  and  reverenced 
by  the  millions  of  Hindustan  for  two-score  centuries, 
we  must  not  imagine  that  it  has  had  no  important 
function  in  the  conservation  of  those  communities 
over  which  it  has  held  sway;  or  that  it  does  not 
contain  many  germs  of  divine  truth,  choked  and 
overgrown  though  these  may  now  be  by  those  rank 
superstitions  and  absurdities  which  are  the  inevitable 
growth  of  the  ages  of  national  childhood.  That  Con- 
fucius, Mencius,  Menu,  and  Buddha  were  teachers 
and  lawgivers  to  the  Chinese  and  Hindus,  in  as  high 
and  divine  a  sense  as  Moses  and  the  long  line  of 
prophets  were  to  the  ancient  Jews,  we  ought  not, 
perhaps,  to  doubt.  We  are  apt  to  lack  broadness 
and  generousness  of  view  in  these  things.  That  we 
have  received  Jacob's  blessing  does  not  prove  that 
others  may  not  have  received  Esau's.  Dr.  Waugh,  in 
a  recent  article  in  the  Metliodist  Quarterly  Revieiv 
(for  April,  1873),  while  making  allusion  to  the  lofty 
truths  which  we  discover  in  the  sacred  books  of  the 
various  religions  of  the  East,  observes :  "  There  may 
be  much  of  truth,  much  that  is  good,  much  that  is 
divine,  in  the  Vedas,  as  well  as  in  the  Mohammedan 
Koran,  and  in  the  sacred  books  of  other  religions, 
though  that  truth  may  be  sadly  distorted  and  in- 
extricably mingled  with  error  of  man's  devising. 
Tliere  is  a  (question  of  great  interest  very  closely  re- 
lated to  this  subject,  wliich  is  yet  quite  undecided, 


PROGRESS   IN  THE   EAST.  467 

and  Avhich,  during  the  next  decade  or  two,  will,  we 
prophesy,  be  more  discussed  than  the  question  of  the 
origin  either  of  man  or  of  evil.  It  may  be  stated 
thus :  Has  there  been  during  the  history  of  our  race 
more  than  one  centre  of  manifest  divine  revelation  ? 
...  So  much  of  truth,  and  even  of  high  moral 
teaching,  is  found  among  certain  people,  that  we 
must  conclude,  with  the  intuitional  deists,  either  that 
God  reveals  himself  to  each  intelligent  being,  or  that 
these  people  have,  by  contact  with  other  nations,  or 
through  the  agency  of  missionaries  in  the  very  ear- 
liest ages,  received  many  of  the  truths  of  our  Bible, 
or  that  a  revelation  has  been  made  direct  to  them  as 
nations  and  peoples." 

Observe  now  how  the  reflections  and  questionings 
of  the  philosopher  find  a  response  in  the  intuitions 
of  the  poet : 

"It  must  be  that  He  witnesses 
Somehow  to  all  men  that  He  is : 
That  something  of  this  saving  grace 
Reaches  the  lowest  of  the  race, 
Who  through  strange  creed  and  rite  may  draw 
The  hints  of  a  diviner  law. 


"  In  Vedic  verse,  in  dull  Koran, 
Are  messages  of  good  to  man : 
The  angels  to  our  Aryan  sires 
Talked  by  the  earliest  household  fires. 
The  prophets  of  the  elder  day — 
The  slant-eyed  sages  of  Cathay — ■ 


4G8  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

Read  not  the  ridel  le  all  amiss 

Of  higher  life  evolved  from  this."* 

But  why  has  the  revelation  of  truth  and  law  to 
the  different  peoples  of  the  earth  been  so  partial? 
The  question  is  best  answered  by  another:  Why, 
while  many  souls  in  every  Christian  land  are  brought 
into  life  under  influences  that  will  cause  them  to 
gravitate  toward  truth  and  goodness,  are  others 
thrown  amid  surroundings  so  vile  and  corrupt  that 
the  spirit  must  almost  inevitably  become  stained 
through  contaminating  contact  ?  It  is  because  there 
are  such  mysterious  ordinances  in  the  divine  govern- 
ment of  the  world  that  our  reason  has  been  uplift- 
ed into  faith,  that,  resting  in  the  strong,  indefeasible 
assurances  of  this  higher  reason,  our  intuitions  and 
experiences  should  not  bewilder  and  overwhelm  us 
by  their  jarring  and  irreconcilable  dissidence.  But 
even  our  reasonings  have  been  satisfied  as  to  all  that 
awaits  beyond  this  world  by  the  divine  assurance 
that  not  according  to  what  a  man  has  not,  but  ac- 
cording to  what  he  has,  shall  he  be  judged.  Here 
is  a  rational  and  authoritative  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion respecting  heathen  I'esponsibility.  We  frankly 
confess  to  a  lack  of  patience  to  consider  in  any  way 
dispassionately  the  doctrine  of  those  who  imagine  that 
they  peculiarly  honor  the  All-father — and  it  is  a  pe- 
culiar honor  they  render  him — by  teaching  that  only 

Wliitticr's  '•  ^Miriam.'' 


PROGRESS   IN  THE  EAST.  469 

"ruin  and  conflagration"  await  the  myriads  of  the 
heathen  world.  We  commend  such  to  the  followino- 
passage  and  its  Scriptural  and  ex  cathedra  vindica- 
tion :  "  There  is  no  doubt  the  notorious  Catharine  II. 
held  more  truth  and  better  truth  than  was  known 
to  all  classic  Greece — held  to  a  belief  in  a  Saviour  of 
whose  glory  that  gifted  soul  [Socrates]  knew  naught; 
yet  such  is  the  grandeur  of  soul  above  mind,  that  I 
doubt  not  that  Queen  Penelope,  of  the  dark  land, 
and  the  doubting  Socrates,  have  received  at  heaven's 
gate  a  sweeter  welcome  than  greeted  the  ear  of  Rus- 
sia's brilliant  but  false -lived  queen." — (Rev.  David 
Swing.)  Shame !  for  the  bigotry  of  our  times,  that 
the  utterance  of  such  a  simple,  Saviour-taught  truth 
should  demand  heroism  in  him  who  would  declare 
it,  and  subject  him  to  theological  persecution !  Sav- 
iour-taught truth,  we  say;  for  read  these  words  quoted 
with  such  effect  by  Professor  Swing  before  the  pres- 
bytery that  so  triumphantly  acquitted  him :  "  Woe ! 
unto  thee,  Chorazin  (Catharine  II.),  for  it  shall  be 
more  tolerable  for  Tyre  and  Sidon  (Penelope  and 
Socrates)  in  the  day  of  judgment  than  for  thee." 

Did  Bayard  Taylor  ever  write  a  passage  that  does 
greater  credit  to  his  heart  or  philosophy,  or  which 
awakens  a  quicker  response  in  the  hearts  of  his  read- 
ers, than  the  following,  which  occurs  in  one  of  his  re- 
cent articles,  "  Egypt  Revisited."  Upon  meeting  at 
Cairo  his  faithful  old  dragoman  Achmet,  who  had 


470  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

served  him  twenty  years  before,  lie  says,  with  a  glow 
of  feeling :  "  I  come  back  to  verify  my  old  experience 
of  human  nature:  in  Christian  or  Moslem,  Jew  or 
Buddhist,  the  true  man  is  true,  the  false  man  is  false; 
not  the  creed  of  an  abstraction,  but  its  practical  ex- 
emplification in  life,  is  the  gauge  of  religion.  Ach- 
met,  and  various  Mohammedan  priests  whom  I  have 
known,  promise  me  free  entrance  into  their  heaven ; 
I  in  turn  hope  to  welcome  them  in  mine." 

And  whence  the  inspiration  that  led  the  learned 
and  large-hearted  author  of  "Hypatia,"  the  gifted 
and  beautiful  Alexandrian  philosopher,  whose  zeal 
in  endeavoring  to  restore  the  dying  faith  of  the  Gre- 
cian world  in  its  classic  pantheon  devoted  her  to  a 
cruel  death — whence  the  inspiration,  we  ask,  that  led 
Kingsley  to  reveal  to  Philammon,  in  dying  vision,  the 
virtuous  pagan  Hypatia  and  the  repentant,  Chris- 
tian-born Pelagia  clasped  hand  in  hand,  and  crowned 
both  with  the  same  halo  of  heaven's  brightness  ?  We, 
at  least,  have  faith  in  the  source  of  such  inspiration. 

But  that  in  this  matter  which  most  nearly  con- 
cerns us  is  the  fact  that  the  motives,  the  sanctions, 
the  persuasions  of  Buddhism  and  Brahminism,  and 
of  every  pagan  religious  system,  be  they  of  natural 
or  supernatural  origin,  are  now  too  debased,  distort- 
ed, and  weakened  to  have  any  longer  positive  influ- 
ence for  good ;  and  that  Christianity  alone  contains 
those  sanctions,  and  holds  out  those  promises  which 


PROGRESS  IN  THE   ExiST.  471 

aiford  at  once  needful  restraint  and  inspiration  to 
the  human  soul.  This  alone  renders  it  incumbent 
upon  us,  simply  as  j)hilanthropists,  to  give  to  India 
the  teachings  of  the  Bible.  A  native  paper,  com- 
menting on  Professor  Seelye's  lectures,  which  were 
able  and  admirable  expositions  of  the  leading  truths 
of  Christianity,  given  to  the  most  highly  cultured 
Hindu  audiences,  makes  this  admission :  "  The  Gos- 
pel of  Christ  is  the  best  system  for  the  elevation  and 
civilization  of  the  mass  of  the  people." 

This  matter  of  the  religious  movement  in  India 
we  would  have  passed  by  without  discussion  were  it 
not  for  the  fact  that  there  are  constantly  emanating 
from  certain  quarters  what  profess  to  be  philanthrop- 
ically  inspired  protests  against  evangelistic  effort 
among  the  Hindus.  Those  who  make  these  pro- 
tests would  by  no  means  be  thought  to  throw  ob- 
structions in  the  way  of  progress  in  India:  they 
would  civilize,  but  not  Christianize.  But  these  crit- 
ics forget  that  European  civilization  and  Christianity 
are  inseparable.  If  history  teach  any  thing,  it  em- 
phasizes this  fact  —  that  the  religious  faith  of  the 
West  is  the  progressive  element  of  its  aspiring  civil- 
ization. But  suj^pose  it  were  possible  to  separate 
the  religious  and  secular  elements  of  modern  culture, 
would  it  be  promotive  of  the  welfare  of  the  natives 
of  India  for  us  to  give  them  an  atheistical  science 
and  literature  and  a  godless  23hilosophy?     We  have 

Ii 


472  EEMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

seen  that  their  own  religious  institutions  must  inev- 
itably crumble  under  the  influence  of  modern  science. 
But  a  people  can  not  be  thus  left  religionless :  it 
must  have  some  faith,  be  it  good  or  bad,  supersti- 
tious or  rational.  If  we  would  have  our  work  in  In- 
dia result  in  permanent  good,  we  must  give  her,  not 
our  science  without  our  religion,  nor  our  faith  di- 
vorced from  our  culture — that  would  result  in  a  low, 
feeble,  superstition  -  distorted  type  of  Christianity — 
but  we  must  give  her  people  at  once  a  Christian 
civilization. 

The  most  thoughtful  natives  themselves  recognize 
the  important,  indispensable  part  w'hich  religious 
teachings  must  hold  in  any  system  of  eifort  for  the 
regeneration  of  their  countrymen.  A  recent  writer 
for  the  London  Times,  in  referring  to  the  failure  of 
Miss  Carpenter's  schools,  assigns  as  the  reason  that 
"  natives  will  not  have  their  daughters  taught  with- 
out the  moral  safeguards  of  religion,  whether  Hindu- 
ism or  Christianity."  Again,  in  the  Bengal  Christian 
Herald,  a  native  writer,  in  speaking  of  an  effort  to  es- 
tablish a  23urely  "  secular  school "  for  girls,  says  that 
"  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  attempt  to  found  a  godless 
institution.  A  day-school  for  females  without  relig- 
ious instruction  is  bad  enough ;  it  is  a  thousand  times 
worse  to  have  a  boarding-school  without  religion." 

In  view  of  the  great  revolution  which  is  taking 
place  in  British  India — this  breaking  up  of  the  old 


PROGRESS  IN  THE  EAST.  473 

social  foundations,  one  is  led  to  ask — What  is  to  be 
the  result  of  all  this  movement  and  change?  He 
who  would  cast  the  horoscope  of  India's  future  must 
study  her  past,  and  rightly  appreciate  the  importance 
of  the  part  which  she  has  played  in  the  history  of 
both  the  East  and  the  West.  From  the  days  of  Sol- 
omon the  wealth  and  trade  of  India  have  been  cov- 
eted by  every  conquering  or  commercial  nation.  She 
built  Palmyra,  Tyre,  and  Alexandria.  It  was  her 
riches  that  beckoned  on  the  Macedonian  conqueror, 
and  thus  brought  the  West  into  that  significant  con- 
tact with  the  East,  the  far-reaching  consequences  of 
which  are  still  entering  into  history.  To  her  the 
world  is  indebted  for  the  discovery  of  America  at  the 
opportune  moment  when  the  emergencies  of  political 
and  religious  strife  in  Europe  demanded  a  new  home 
for  Liberty.  Columbus  was  thinking  only  of  India, 
and  a  short  route  thither,  when  his  vessels  were 
driven  against  the  New  World.  The  splendid  com- 
mercial Italian  republics  of  Venice  and  Genoa  were 
largely  indebted  to  India  for  their  prosperity  and  af 
iluence;  she  enriched  Portugal,  gave  to  the  Dutch 
Republic  her  supremacy  in  Europe,  and  has  created 
much  of  England's  wealth. 

While  sustaining  these  relations  to  the  West,  she 
has  stood  in  even  more  important  relations  to  the 
East.  She  has  been  the  intellect  of  Eastern  Asia — 
has  done  her  thinking.     Her  schools  of  ethics  and 


474  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

philosophy  have  been  the  home  of  many  stirnng 
thoughts.  She  has  given  religion  to  more  than  half 
of  the  human  race.  As  among  the  hills  of  Palestine 
there  sprang  up  a  religion  which,  though  it  could 
find  no  permanent  home  there,  was  welcomed  by  the 
races  of  Europe,  so  the  religion  of  Buddha,  born  in  the 
schools  of  India,  was  destined,  though  driven  thence, 
to  find  an  asylum  on  the  island  of  Ceylon,  among  the 
Himalayas,  and  in  Burmah,  China,  and  Japan ;  while 
Brahminism,  itself  of  indigenous  birth,  reasserted  its 
authority  over  the  millions  of  India. 

And  now,  in  the  general  awakening  of  Asia,  India 
is  exerting,  directly  or  indirectly,  a  mighty  influence 
throusrhout  the  leno-th  and  breadth  of  the  continent. 
She  has  severed  Africa  from  Asia,  and  by  means  of 
the  Suez  Canal  brought  the  East  into  broad  and 
close  contact  with  all  the  influences  of  the  West. 
The  great  scheme  for  the  Euphrates  River  Valley 
Railroad,  recently  discussed  in  the  English  Parlia- 
ment, and  the  plan  for  a  trans-continental  railway 
line  from  Constantinople  to  Bombay,  via  Aleppo, 
Mosul,  and  Teheran,  or,  as  M.  de  Lesseps  recommends, 
across  Central  Asia,  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Calcutta, 
via  Orenburg,  Samarcand,  and  Peshawur — projects 
which  soon  will  be  realized — owe  their  origin  to  the 
importance  which  the  afl'airs  of  British  India  are  as- 
suming in  the  eyes  of  Europe. 

At  this  point  our  thoughts  naturally  broaden,  and 


PROGRESS   IN  THE   EAST.  475 

the  interests  and  the  future,  not  of  a  single  nation, 
but  of  a  continent,  excite  our  attention.  We  ask, 
What  is  to  follow  this  awakening  of  Asia  from  the 
torpor  of  centuries  ?  What  significance  in  these  new 
relations  between  the  W^est  and  the  East?  We 
have  seen  how  in  early  times  art,  science,  literature, 
and  religion  were  handed  on  from  Asia  to  Europe; 
and  now  we  see  the  actual  realization  of  the  proph- 
ecy of  Stanley,  as  the  Greek  race  hands  back  the 
light  which  in  former  times  was  thus  passed  to  it 
from  the  Orient,  and  "  the  Sclavonic  race  imparts  by 
the  Volga  and  the  Caspian  the  civilization  which  it 
has  itself  received  by  the  Neva  and  the  Baltic."* 

The  foregoing  pages  of  this  chapter  are  a  hasty  re- 
view of  what  the  Indo-Germanic  race  is  doing  in  the 
East,  or  more  particularly  in  India;  but  we  have 
barely  alluded  to  the  work  that  is  being  done  by  the 
Sclavonic  race.  In  respect  to  the  part  which  Russia 
is  playing  in  the  affairs  of  the  East,  we  might  quote 
to  effect  the  words  of  Scripture:  "I  girded  thee, 
though  thou  hast  not  known  me."  (Isa.  xlv.  5.)  In 
her  schemes  for  the  territorial  extension  of  her  do- 
minions, she  is  the  Rome  of  modern  times.  Her  op- 
erations in  Central  Asia  are  of  the  greatest  impor- 
tance to  the  cause  of  civilization.  Step  by  step  Rus- 
sia has  pushed  her  stations  into  the  heart  of  the  con- 
tinent, always  with  a  looking  toward  India,  till  now 

*  Stanley's  "  History  of  the  Eastern  Church." 


476  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

only  the  ranges  of  tlie  Himalayas  lie  between  lier 
outposts  and  those  of  the  English  in  Hindustan. 
The  wild,  warring,  plundering,  semi-barbarous  khan- 
ates or  tribes  of  Turkestan  have,  the  greater  portion 
of  them,  been  subjugated,  pacified,  and  taught  some- 
thing of  the  rules  of  civilization  by  Russian  armies 
and  Russian  diplomatists.  These  robber  tribes,  be- 
fore the  military  occupation  of  the  country  by  the 
Russians,  kept  the  entire  region  in  a  perfect  turmoil 
with  their  petty  squabbles  and  marauding  expedi- 
tions, and  frightened  away  trade  and  held  civilization 
at  a  distance.  Now  the  country  is  open  to  the  influ- 
ences of  trade,  commerce,  and  civilization.  Thus  over 
all  the  northern  half  of  the  continent  of  Asia  Russia 
has  extended  her  authority,  to  the  advantage  of  those 
tribes  themselves,  as  well  as  to  the  advantage  of  the 
world.  The  semi-nomads  of  Siberia  and  of  the  vast 
district  once  embraced  in  Chinese  Tartary,  and  the 
robber  tribes  of  the  immense  semi-desert  steppes  of 
Turkestan,  are  now  obliged  to  forego  their  usual  pas- 
time of  senseless  raids  and  conflicts,  and  give  their 
attention  to  more  sensible  and  elevating  pursuits. 
Common  laws,  and  the  employment,  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent,  of  a  common  language,  are  drawing  to- 
gether these  different  peoples,  races,  tribes,  and 
khanates,  and  consolidating  them  into  a  nation,  with 
a  close  community  of  speech,  sentiment,  religion,  and 
political  interests.     Post-roads  aftbrd  safe  and  rapid 


PROGRESS  IN  THE   EAST.  477 

communication  between  the  most  extreme  points  of 
the  enormously  extended  dominions  of  the  Czar. 
From  St.  Petersburg  and  Moscow  railroads  are  reach- 
ing out  to  meet  those  that  the  English  are  pushing- 
north  from  the  East  Indian  Peninsula.  Two  thirds 
of  the  distance  between  London  and  Calcutta  are 
now  covered  by  iron  rails ;  and  the  only  difficulty  in 
the  way  of  closing  the  gap  is  now  removed  by  the 
extension  of  Russian  authority  over  the  tribes  of 
Turkestan.  We  have  already  made  allusion  to  the 
project  of  uniting  the  Russian  and  East  Indian  lines. 
Probably  within  twenty  years  —  possibly  within  a 
single  decade — there  will  be  a  weekly  express  run- 
ning regularly  between  Calais  and  Calcutta,  and  car- 
rying the  round-the-world  tourist  directly  through 
the  heart  of  Central  Asia.  That  this  will  be  real- 
ized ten  years  hence  need  not  astonish  us  half  as 
much  as  the  fact  that  there  is  to-day  an  howrly  ex- 
press between  Yokohama  and  Yeddo.  Who  ten 
years  ago  would  have  been  so  reckless  as  to  prophesy 
such  an  event  in  Japan  ?  The  establishment  of  these 
lines  of  railway  communication  upon  the  continent 
of  Asia,  all  reaching  out  from  or  connected  with  the 
centres  of  European  culture,  has  a  meaning  deep  and 
significant :  along  these  highways  of  trade  and  travel 
intelligence,  civilization,  and  Christianity  will  run  out 
to  the  ends  of  the  world. 

Here  we  are  met  by  the  suggestion  that  the  Ori- 


478  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

ental  mind  is  naturally  incapacitated  for  realizing  for 
itself  all  those  grand  possibilities  which  the  civiliza- 
tion of  the  West  j)ushes  forward  and  upholds  as  the 
lofty  ideals  to  the  attainment  of  which  effort  should 
he  directed.  It  is  asserted  that  the  Asiatic  intellect 
is  intrinsically  inferior  to  the  European.  This  al- 
leged superiority  of  the  latter,  it  will  be  just  for  us 
to  observe,  is  but  the  superiority  of  masculinity  over 
femininity.  Thus  the  objection  which  is  advanced 
as  a  discouragement  to  effort  for  the  civilization  of 
the  East  simply  means,  if  it  mean  any  thing,  that 
Asiatics  can  not  be  changed  into  Europeans,  and 
therefore  that  efforts  to  civilize  them  are  simply 
wasted,  misdirected  energy.  It  is  a  total  misconcep- 
tion of  our  work  to  suppose  that  it  be  to  metamor- 
phose those  Orientals  into  Westerners.  They  are 
palms,  not  oaks.  It  would  be  a  mistake,  providing  it 
were  possible,  to  convert  the  palm  into  an  oak.  We 
should  only  secui-e  an  unnatural,  awkward  growth. 
The  tree  must  be  trained  to  a  healthy,  native  devel- 
opment. Palms  grow  in  full  beauty  in  Eastern 
climes.  Now  as  the  palm  has  more  of  grace  and 
l)eauty  than  the  oak,  so  will  Oriental  civilization,  in 
its  future  true  and  highest  development,  far  surpass 
that  of  the  West  in  graceful  culture  and  the  attract- 
ive embodiments  of  spiritual  life.  Quite  recently 
we  heard  a  missionary,  Avliile  S2:»eaking  in  glowing 
language  of  the  future   of  Africa,  exclaim:   ''When  j 


PROGRESS   IN   THE   EAST.  479 

iVfi'ica  becomes  Christianized,  we  shall  have  Chris- 
tianity set  to  music.'"  He  impressed  the  thought 
with  the  following  beautiful  illustration,  which  we 
give  from  memory :  "  It  is  said  that  when  the  rays 
of  the  rising  sun  fell  u23on  the  Egyptian  Memnon, 
the  statue  became  vocal,  and  sweet  music  floated  out 
upon  the  Nile.  So  when  the  light  of  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness  shall  dawn  upon  that  continent,  and 
chase  away  the  darkness  of  its  long  night,  responsive  \ 
to  its  influences  will  burst  forth  music  more  won-  1 
drously  sweet  than  the  fabled  notes  of  the  Egyptian  I 
deity,  whose  rich  cadences  will  entrance  the  world,  / 
as  the  ancient  worshipers  of  the  Nile  were  said  to  [ 
have  been  entranced  by  the  music  which  trembled  I 
from  the  lips  of  the  vocal  Memnon."  ""'^ 

The  characteristics  of  the  Eastern  mind  justify  us 
in  looking  forward  with  even  greater  enthusiasm  to 
the  future  of  the  continent  of  Asia.  The  prominent 
features  of  the  Oriental  are  a  deep  religious  instinct, 
an  impetuous,  devotional  ardor,  a  sensitive  S2:)iritual- 
ity,  which,  debased,  distorted,  misdirected,  and  un- 
duly inflamed,  have  found  expression  in  groveling 
superstition  or  violent  fanaticism ;  but  which,  rightly 
developed  and  directed,  promise  a  far  higher  type  of 
spiritual  life  than  is  attainable  by  the  cold,  unemo- 
tional native  of  the  West.  One  who  has  been  long 
a  missionary  in  India  once  remarked  to  us:  "I  feel 
ashamed  of  my  own  Christian  life  when  I  contrast 


480  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

it  with  that  of  many  of  these  Hindus.  There  is  such 
sweetness,  devotedness,  resignation,  and  ardency  of 
love  often  evinced  by  these  native  Christian  converts 
that  I  feel  as  though  I  were  infinitely  below  them  in 
spiritual  attainments."  This  religious  instinct  of  the 
native  of  the  East  may,  perhaps,  be  best  illustrated  by 
recalling  the  ftict  that  every  religious  system  which 
exerts  any  considerable  influence  in  the  world  to-day 
had  its  birth  in  Asia.  All  the  great  religious  teach- 
ers of  the  race  have  been  Asiatics :  Confucius,  Men- 
cius,  Buddha  (Guadama),  Christ,  and  Mohammed 
were  all  Orientals. 

The  entire  history  of  Asia  in  early  times  here 
comes  forward  to  justify  every  effort  which  is  being 
made  for  the  elevation  of  her  millions;  to  afford 
ground  for  the  strongest  hopes  for  the  unlimited  im- 
provement of  her  peoples ;  and  to  give  reason  for  the 
l^rightest  colorings  in  every  portrayal  of  her  future. 
The  most  brilliant  monarchies  that  the  world  has 
ever  seen  arose  upon  that  continent.  It  is  not  for  us 
who  have  wandered  over  the  ruins  of  her  once  splen- 
did empires,  and  stood  amid  the  decayed  grandeur 
of  the  imperial  centres  of  Assyrian,  Babylonian,  Per- 
sian, and  Indian  civilization,  to  be  incredulous  when 
told  that  she  may  have  a  glorious  future  yet  before 
her.  The  wildest  tribes  that  w^ander  over  her  im- 
mense deserts  and  steppes  have  never  failed,  when 
brought  under  favoring  and  inspiring  conditions,  to 


PROGRESS  IN  THE  EAST.  431 

make  ra23id  advancement  in  culture  and  refinement. 
The  Saracenic  irruption,  resulting  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  brilliant  reign  of  the  caliphs  at  Bagdad,  is 
an  illustration  of  this.  The  mao;nificent  relics  of  the 
empire  established  in  India  by  the  Mogul  chieftains 
— wild  semi-nomads  of  the  bleak  wastes  of  Central 
Asia — can  not  fail  to  impress  one  with  the  sensitive- 
ness of  the  Tartar  tribes  to  the  touch  of  civilization. 
Those  rough  "children  of  the  north"  are  destined,  we 
prophesy,  to  play  a  prominent  part  in  the  coming 
history  of  the  Asiatic  peoples.  In  hardy  vigor  and 
conquering  energy  they  are  kindred  to  the  races  that 
settled  Europe,  and  in  them  we  discover  all  those  el- 
ements from  which  our  own  civilization  was  born. 

This  belief  that  the  awakenins:  in  Asia  is  the  cer- 
tain  prelude  to  a  re-enactment  upon  that  continent 
of  the  long  drama  of  European  progress  from  barba- 
rism to  civilization  is,  perhaps,  staggered  in  some  by 
the  fact  of  the  immemorial  immobility  of  Oriental 
races.  Does  not  this  phenomenon,  it  is  asked,  prove 
that  Eastern  peoples  are  lacking  in  those  qualities 
necessary  to  a  progressive  race  ?  If  this  be  not  so, 
how  then  are  we  to  account  for  the  phenomenon? 
For  illusti'ation,  Why  is  it  that  India  and  China, 
with  all  the  rudiments  of  civilization  acquired,  with 
all  the  elements  of  progress  discovered,  should  have 
halted  i  What  occasioned  this  immobility,  this  fos- 
silization?     It  was  occasioned,  not  by  any  defect  in 


482  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

iutellectual  endovvnients,  but  by  the  entering  in  at  a 
critical  period  in  the  early  history  of  those  communi- 
ties, while  the  religious  instinct  was  yet  the  blindest 
superstition,  of  a  religion  that  prescribed,  witb  all 
the  sanctions  of  a  divine  original,  every  law,  custom, 
and  ordinance  of  society ;  forbade  change,  stamped 
progress  as  innovation,  and  commanded  the  people 
ever  to  look  backw^ard  instead  of  forward.  Any  at- 
tempt to  introduce  change  into  such  a  system  would 
necessarily  be  an  attack  upon  religion,  and  would 
not  escape  punishment  at  the  hands  of  fanatical  su- 
perstition, hot  in  its  zeal  for  those  institutions  which 
it  believes  of  divine  appointment,  and  which  grow  at 
once  more  sacred  and  venerable  through  the  lapse  of 
time.  Thus  all  change  is  effectually  proscribed ;  but 
without  change  there  can  be  no  progress :  hence  stag- 
nation, rigidity. 

How  different  is  all  this  from  that  inspiring,  pro- 
gressive religion  which  entered  into  and  gave  such 
elasticity  to  the  civilization  of  Europe.  Christianity, 
taking  the  golden  age  of  the  ancients  from  the  past, 
placed  it  in  the  future;  whispered  to  man  that  it 
was  not  something  lost,  but  something  to  be  won ; 
placed  its  ideals  of  perfection  not  behind,  but  iu  ad- 
vance, that  the  race,  with  these  grand  possibilities 
ever  before  it,  might,  in  its  pursuit  of  them,  be  led  on 
in  a  path  of  tireless  progress.  Thus  has  Christianity 
become  the  progressive  element  of  our  civilization. 


PROGRESS   IN  THE   EAST.  433 

Here,  without  doubt,  may  be  found  the  fundamental 
cause  of  the  great  dissideuce  between  the  East  and 
the  West.  That  the  immobility  of  Eastern  society 
is  not  the  result  of  any  inherent  incapacity  for  im- 
provement of  the  Oriental  mind  is  evidenced  by 
what  is  taking  place  in  Japan,  now  that  that  people 
have  had  weakened  their  superstitious  veneration  for 
its  institutions  of  antiquity,  and  have  conceived  a 
true  regard  and  veneration  for  the  institutions  of  the 
superior  civilization  with  which  they  have  come  in 
contact. 

But  we  must  not  expect  that  the  lofty  ideals  of 
the  Christian  civilization  of  the  West  will  be  attain- 
ed at  once  by  the  natives  of  the  East.  We  ourselves 
fall  lamentably  far  short  of  realizing  them  in  the  em- 
bodiment of  either  our  individual  or  national  life. 
The  peoples  of  Asia,  we  must  remember,  have  been 
steeped  for  so  many  centuries  in  the  reeking  sinks  of 
the  foulest  corruption  that  the  forces  of  recupera- 
tion have  been  ahuost  lost.  Grateful  that,  unlike 
the  South  Sea  Islanders,  they  have  still  sufficient  vi- 
tality left,  so  that  responsive  indications  answer  to 
the  new  influences  flowing  in  upon  them — grateful 
for  this,  let  us  not  be  impatient  if  we  do  not  see  them 
at  once  grasping  all  the  higher  possibilities  of  that 
purer  and  better  life  to  which  they  are  awakened. 
These  can  only  be  the  heirloom  of  a  long  and  care- 
fully  directed  progress.     The  superstitious  notions 


484  EEMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

and  polytheistic  ideas  of  tlie  Sandwicli  Islander  still 
cling  to  liim  after  lialf  a  century's  tuition  in  the 
schools  of  modern  science ;  centuries  scarcely  sufficed 
to  enable  the  wild  Britons  and  the  untutored  Ger- 
manic tribes  to  forget  their  Druidical  sacrifices  or  the 
worshij)  of  Odin  and  Thor.  So  the  superstitions  of 
the  worshipers  of  ancestral  sires — of  Buddha,  of  Brah- 
ma, Vishnu,  and  Siva — will  long  continue  to  enthrall 
them,  and  complete  emancipation  from  these  can  only 
be  effected  by  the  manumitting  processes  of  time. 

Again,  to  repeat  what  we  have  suggested  once  be- 
fore, we  must  not  confound  progress  with  metamor- 
phosis. The  East  will  always  be  different  from  the 
West.  Occidental  will  always  be  synonymous  with 
energy,  masculinity ;  Oriental  with  grace,  femininity. 
The  one  is  identical  with  man,  the  other  with  woman. 
True  progress  will  never  obliterate  or  obscure  these 
primal  distinctions.  Not  Euroi^ean,  but  Oriental 
Christianity  and  civilization  is  the  goal  of  Eastern 
progress.  There  is  danger  lest  Japan  and  her  ad- 
visers forget  this.  Now  in  this  divinely  apj^ointed 
diversity  we  find  the  basis  and  necessity  of  union. 
The  East  needs,  and  needs  greatly,  the  West;  the 
West  has  much  to  gain  from  union  with  the  East. 
Each  alone  is  incomplete:  each  is  essential  to  the 
fullest  and  most  symmetrical  development  of  the 
other.  History  reveals  how  deeply  was  appreciated 
in  early  times  the  vast  advantages  of  such  a  union. 


PROGRESS   IX   THE   EAST.  485 

cancl  how  conquest  vainly  endeavored  to  bind  Asia 
to  Europe  with  the  bonds  of  rough  force.  Xow 
commerce  and  religion  are  drawing  them  together  in 
that  spirit  of  mutual  regard  and  appreciation  that  be- 
speaks a  true  and  permanent  alliance.  We  hail  the 
union  as  one  of  the  grandest  outcomes  of  the  world's 
progress — as  a  fact  that  will  shape  all  coming  history 
— as  an  event  large  with  promises  for  the  future  of 
the  race. 


APPENDIX. 


Kk 


APPENDIX. 


ANCIENT   GLACIERS    AMONa   THE   HIMALAYAS. 

Importance  of  Exact  Knowledge  of  the  Extent  of  Glaciation  suifered 
by  the  Difterent  Continents  during  the  Ice  Period. — Our  PUms  for 
Investigations  among  the  Himalayas. — Interview  with  Dr.  Hooker. — 
Study  of  Glacial  Action  among  the  Alps. — Difficulties  attending  In- 
vestigation among  the  Himalayas. — Facility  of  Interpretation. — Re- 
sult of  Long  Observation  and  Comparison. — Illustrations  of  Liabili- 
ties of  Error. — Mimic  Moraines. — Their  Mode  of  Formation. — The 
Sinde  Valley. — Chamounix  of  the  Himalayas. — Discovei-y  of  an  In- 
teresting Series  of  Ancient  "Moraines.  —  Sonomarg  Valley. — Move- 
ments of  the  Ancient  Glacier. — Description  of  the  Several  Moraines. 
— The  Moraines  Mark  the  Limit  of  Ancient  Glacial  Action. — That 
Limitation  determined  by  the  Climate  prevailing  in  the  Sinde  Val- 
ley.— The  Glacial  Epoch. — Other  Moraines. — Their  Evidence  Con- 
firmatory of  that  given  by  the  Sonomarg  Moraines. — Why  the  Sinde 
Glacier  formed  Smaller  Moraines  than  the  Sonomarg. — Extension 
of  Ancient  Glaciers  below  Existing  Ice  Streams. — Absence  of  Lateral 
and  Medial  Moraines  Explained. — The  Kishun  Gunga  Valley. — Geo- 
logical Formation  of  the  Valley  and  its  Tributaries. — Absence  of 
Glacial  Phenomena.  —  Other  Valleys  Examined.  —  Respecting  the 
Causes  that  Produced  the  Ice  Period.  —  Astronomical  Origin  of  the 
Glacial  Epoch. 

We  hope  to  give,  in  tlie  following  notes,  some  in- 
teresting facts  respecting  the  limitation  of  ancient  gla- 
cial action  among  the  Himalayas.  In  giving  the  re- 
sults of  our  researches  in  the  mountains  lying  about 
the  Vale  of  Cashmere,  we  shall  engage  ourselves  with 
the  steps  and  processes  of  the  investigation  simply 


490  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

to  that  extent  necessary  to  show  the  legitimacy  of 
the  conclusions  drawn,  and  to  enable  others  to  see 
just  the  nature,  extent,  and  strength  of  the  facts  upon 
w^hich  they  rest.  We  trust,  too,  by  pointing  out 
some  of  the  difficulties  attending  the  study  of  gla- 
cial action  in  those  elevated  valleys,  to  eliminate 
some  of  the  liabilities  of  error,  and  thus  smooth  the 
path  of  future  investigators. 

Europe,  North  and  South  America,  and  even  North- 
ern Africa,  have  all  been  more  or  less  thoroughly  ex- 
plored with  reference  to  the  traces  of  ancient  glacial 
action ;  and  each  has  furnished  more  or  less  mate- 
rial for  the  elucidation  of  this  interesting  chapter  of 
geology.  But  Asia  has  hitherto  contributed  com- 
paratively little  to  the  inquiry ;  hence  facts  from  this 
continent  bearing  upon  the  subject  can  not  prove 
otherwise  than  of  value,  and  may  aid  in  the  settle- 
ment of  the  question  whether  we  must  look  to  geolo- 
gy or  astronomy  for  the  causes  that  produced  the  ice 
period.  The  more  local  the  phenomena,  the  more  cir- 
cumscribed the  agency  or  agencies  of  which  they  are 
the  resultant ;  the  more  universal  the  phenomena, 
the  greater  the  certainty  of  the  cosmic  nature  of  the 
cause  that  secured  them ;  hence  the  necessity  of  a 
knowledo-e  of  the  extent  and  limitations  of  2:lacia] 
action  before  we  can  enter  intelligently,  and  with 
prospects  of  just  conclusions,  upon  the  question  re- 
specting originating  causes. 


APPENDIX.  49]^ 

Before  proceeding  to  the  presentation  of  any  facts 
relative  to  ancient  glacial  action  among  the  Hima- 
layas, we  will  allude  briefly  to  the  anticipations  with 
which  we  entered  upon  our  researches.  The  Hima- 
layas were  the  objective  point  in  our  plans  of  Asiatic 
travel.  As  the  time  we  proposed  to  spend  upon  that 
continent  would  compel  us  to  pass  one  summer  in 
the  southern  portion,  we  early  selected  the  Himalay- 
an mountains  as  the  best  retreat  from  the  plains  of 
Persia  and  India  during  the  hot  months;  and  we 
were,  moreover,  led  to  the  adoption  of  this  plan  by 
the  consideration  that  we  should,  in  the  elevated  and 
temperate  valleys  of  those  mountains,  be  able  to 
prosecute  uninterrupted  our  botanical  and  geological 
studies ;  and  also  because  during  no  other  portion 
of  the  year  could  we  seek  for  the  traces  of  glacial  ac- 
tion in  those  valleys  lying  just  below  the  line  of  per- 
petual snow — to  which  valleys  we  had  no  reason  to 
doubt  such  indications  must  be  confined. 

The  fact  that  the  glaciers  of  the  Himalayas  once  had 
a  greater  extension  than  at  present  was  most  fully  es- 
tablished by  the  discoveries  of  the  celebrated  bota- 
nist, Dr.  Hooker.  He  found  unmistakable  proof  in  the 
morainic  deposits  of  the  valleys  of  the  Sikkim  Him- 
alaya that  the  ice  streams  of  those  lofty  peaks  for- 
merly pushed  several  thousand  feet  below  the  point 
now  reached  by  them.  These  glacial  phenomena,  it 
will  be  noted,  occur  beneath  the  highest  peaks  of  the 


492  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

Himalayas  —  in  valleys  connecting  witli  mountains 
varying  from  twenty  thousand  to  twenty-eight  thou- 
sand feet  in  elevation.  The  snow -fields  of  these 
ranges  are,  of  course,  of  enormous,  arctic-like  breadth, 
and  the  glaciers  that  choke  their  valleys  of  the  most 
gigantic  nature.  It  becomes  an  important  question 
under  such  circumstances  what  effect  a  given  lower- 
ing of  the  snow-line,  say  one  thousand  feet,  would 
have  upon  the  extension  of  the  glacial  streams.  The 
descent  of  the  glaciers  would,  we  might  suppose,  be 
much  greater  than  that  of  the  line  of  snow.  For 
this  reason  we  do  not  think  that  any  definite  or  en- 
tirely satisfactory  conclusion  respecting  the  amount 
of  depression  suffered  by  the  snow-line  on  the  Him- 
alayas during  the  glacial  epoch  can  be  arrived  at  by 
a  study  of  the  glacial  phenomena  beneath  the  high- 
est peaks  of  those  mountains.  Our  own  observations 
among  the  lo\ver  peaks  of  the  Western  Himalaya 
convinced  us  that  we  are  very  liable  to  err,  in  the 
way  of  drawing  unwarrantable  conclusions  from  the 
former  movements  of  the  glacial  streams  of  those 
loftier  ranges.  This  will  appear  as  we  advance  in 
our  investigations.  Our  object  will  be  to  determine 
positively  the  limitations  of  glacial  action  among  the 
lower  peaks  of  the  Cashmerian  mountains,  that  there- 
by we  may  be  able  to  pronounce  somewhat  definitely 
upon  the  depression  of  the  snow-line  during  the  gla- 
cial period.     This,  of  course,  will  enable  us  to  inter- 


APPENDIX.  493 

pret,  ^vithoiit  exaggeration,  the  climatic  change  suf- 
fered by  the  Himalayas  during  that  era. 

While  in  England  we  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Dr.  Hooker,  and  made  known  to  him  our  plans  of 
visiting  the  Himalayas,  and  the  objects  to  which  we 
should  direct  our  attention  while  there.  He  led  us 
to  anticipate  finding  a  paradise  for  the  botanist,  but 
a  region  of  confusion  and  uncertainty  for  the  geolo- 
gist. Our  pleasant  interview,  however,  while  it  sug- 
gested the  difficulties  which  we  might  encounter  in 
prosecuting  our  glacial  researches,  led  us  to  prepare 
ourselves  still  more  thoroughly  for  surmounting  the 
same  by  spending  several  weeks  among  the  Alps, 
and  thus  familiarizing  ourselves  with  the  phenomena 
aftbrded  bv  the  s'lacial  fields  of  those  mountains. 
Among  the  high  valleys  of  the  Oberland  and  about 
the  Chamounix  we  watched  the  glaciers  at  their 
work ;  and  below  the  line  of  their  present  action,  in 
the  valleys  from  which  they  had  retreated,  we  studied 
the  results  of  their  greater  extension  in  former  times. 
With  this  preparatory  field-work,  we  entered  upon 
our  studies  among  the  Himalayas  with  the  quiet 
conviction  that  we  should  in  our  investigations  en- 
counter no  difficulties  which  we  should  be  unable  to 
surmount. 

But  once  among  those  mountains,  we  found  our- 
selves surrounded  by  so  many  new  and  unfamiliar 
difficulties  that  at  first  we  experienced  uncertainty 


494  REMAINS   OF  LOST   EMPIRES. 

and  embarrassment.  In  the  lower  valleys  the  dete- 
I'iorating  effects  of  tropical  agencies,  and  impenetra- 
ble jungles  or  heavy  forests,  often  rendered  the  ex- 
amination difficult  or  altogether  impossible,  and  al- 
ways discouraging;  for  had  any  such  traces  as  we 
were  in  search  of  ever  existed,  they  would  almost 
certainly  have  been  obliterated  or  obscured.  As  to 
the  higher  valleys,  it  often  haj)pened  that  they  as- 
sumed such  a  nature — abrupt,  crumbling,  clift'-built 
sides,  and  rapidly  descending  bottoms — that  no  trace 
of  the  passage  of  a  glacier  could  be  permanently  re- 
corded. Then,  besides,  there  were  often  pseudo-gla- 
cial api:)earances,  produced  by  the  action  of  swollen, 
ice-loaded  torrents,  and  by  avalanches  of  snow  and 
rock,  all  of  which  conspired  to  complicate  the  phe- 
nomena, and  to  lead  to  hesitation  in  pronouncing 
upon  the  exact  agencies  that  had  been  at  work. 

Thus  we  had  to  set  ourselves  to  the  task  of  learn- 
ing to  interpret  correctly  the  unfamiliar  appearances 
with  which  we  found  ourselves  surrounded.  At  first 
every  thing  seemed  a  perfect  chaos ;  and  often,  when 
striving  to  reduce  to  intelligent  order  the  confusion 
that  reigned  about  us,  did  we  recall  the  remark  of 
Dr.  Hooker — "  It  is  a  fearfully  tumbled-up  country." 
But  after  three  weeks'  experience  and  careful  obser- 
vation and  comparison  we  began  to  acquire  facility  in 
the  detection  of  difference  in  seeming  similarity,  and 
— gradually  familiarized  with  the  characteristic  feat- 


APPEXDIX.  495 

ures  of  the  work  of  particular  sets  of  agencies — in  re- 
ferring the  various  phenomena  to  their  true  causal 
connections. 

We  never  felt  a  keener  pleasure  than  we  expe- 
rienced in  pursuing  our  explorations  among  those  ele- 
vated mountain  valleys,  after  we  had  possession  of 
the  key  that  enabled  us,  without  the  least  feeling 
of  uncertainty  in  our  conclusions,  to  interpret  the 
changes  ■  which  they  had  witnessed  during  geologic 
times.  There  was  a  pleasure  which  utterly  refuses 
to  find  expression  in  words  in  standing  amid  those 
lofty  peaks,  and  studying  out  the  thoughts  wrought 
in  the  forms  about  us :  to  be  able  to  say,  This  valley 
was  sculptured  by  glaciers,  for  the  chiseled  rocks  and 
carefully  piled  moraines  record  their  advances  and 
retreats ;  that  has  been  shaped  by  the  torrent,  pa- 
tiently wearing  away  the  granitic  rock  through  geo- 
logic eternities ;  this  was  formed  amid  the  throes  of 
some  sudden  convulsion ;  there  Time  has  slowly 
crumbled  down  the  cliff,  and  cast  it  rock  by  rock 
into  the  vallev ;  here  the  avalanche  has  shot  from 
the  dizzy  heights  its  "thunder-bolt  of  snow"  and 
rock ;  and  here  Nature  has  joined  all  her  destroying 
agencies,  and  with  the  shock  of  earthquake,  with  tor- 
rent, avalanche,  and  storm,  brought  down  in  ruins  the 
cliffs,  and  ground  and  heaped  the  fragments  with  gla- 
ciers, and  with  the  strength  of  ice-loaded  torrents  push- 
ed them  for  onward  and  downward  toward  the  sea. 


496  REMAINS  OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

In  presenting  the  results  of  our  researches,  we  will 
select  from  the  dozen  or  more  valleys  examined  two 
or  three  representative  ones,  which  exhibit  all  the 
important  phenomena.  The  evidence  yielded  by 
these  will,  we  think,  be  sufficiently  conclusive;  so 
that,  instead  of  surveying  the  phenomena  presented 
by  the  remaining  localities  visited,  we  shall  avoid 
useless  repetition  by  simply  stating  that  the  evidence 
of  all  is  confirmatory  of  that  given  by  these  particu- 
larized valleys. 

In  order  to  exhibit  some  of  the  difficulties  that 
complicate  the  work,  and  some  of  the  liabilities  of 
error  in  the  interpretation  of  certain  phenomena, 
which  the  explorer  needs  to  guard  against  by  the 
greatest  caution  in  his  investigations,  we  will  first 
give  the  results  of  our  explorations  in  the  Das  Val- 
ley, which  lies  over  one  hundred  miles  north  of  the 
Vale  of  Cashmere,  and  is  separated  from  it  by  two 
lofty  passes — the  Rajdiangan  and  Stalpild — respect- 
ively 11,770  and  12,900  feet  in  elevation.  The  lat- 
ter pass,  when  we  crossed  it,  early  in  July,  was  cov- 
ered for  more  than  a  thousand  feet  from  its  summit 
-with  a  heavy  body  of  snow,  which  rendered  the  pas- 
sage all  but  impossible.  From  this  pass  a  large  val- 
ley leads  down  to  a  still  larger  one,  which  we  have 
called  the  Das,  from  the  native  name  of  a  little  clus- 
ter of  huts  we  found  in  it.  This  tributary  vale  has, 
toward  its  embouchure,  a  gently  descending  and  mod- 


APPENDIX. 


497 


erately  broad  bottom.  At  this  point,  lying  at  an  el- 
evation of  about  eiglit  thousand  feet,  are  some  ac- 
cumulations which  have  all  the  appearance  of  ter- 
minal and  medial  moraines.  Stretching  completely 
across  the  valley,  here  about  two  hundred  yards  in 
breadth,  lies  a  rampart   of  boulders,  which   is  from 


PSEUDO-MORAINES   m   THE   DAS   VAXLEY, 

thirty  to  forty  feet  in  height,  and  about  one  hundred 
broad.  The  annexed  plate  represents  the  appear- 
ance this  accumulation  presents  when  viewed  from 
down  the  river.  It  has  every  feature  of  a  terminal 
moraine.  One  end  rests  full  against  the  right  flank 
of  the  valley,  and  the  other  leaves  just  sufficient  space 


498  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

between  itself  and  the  left  bank  for  the  passage  of 
the  stream,  which  the  dam  of  rocks  has,  in  fact,  forced 
to  eat  away  the  cliff  in  order  to  make  a  passage  for 
its  waters.  The  material  composing  the  w^all  con- 
sists of  huge  angular  fragments  of  rock,  of  just  the 
nature  of  glacier-transported  boulders.  Stretching 
from  this  dam  to  the  mouth  of  the  valley,  a  distance 
of  about  half  a  mile,  is  a  broken  line  of  boulders 
that  would  at  once  be  pronounced  a  medial  moraine, 
as  the  blocks  are  sometimes  piled  up  twenty  feet  in 
height,  and  are  not  sjoread  out  more  than  is  often  the 
case  in  such  de2:)osits. 

We  were  at  first  misled  by  these  accumulations; 
but  a  more  careful  examination  discovered  a  single 
circumstance  which  created  a  suspicion  as  to  their 
glacial  origin.  The  stream,  as  already  remarked, 
does  not  break  through  the  dam,  but  finds  its  way 
around  one  extremity.  At  that  point  it  had  torn 
away  the  clifi^,  making  quite  an  irregularity  in  the 
bank ;  and  into  this  recess  we  observed  that  the  wall 
of  rocks  had  extended  itself,  so  that  the  termination 
was  several  feet  Avithin  the  line  of  the  side  of  the 
valley.  It  was  difficult  to  account  for  this  while 
proceeding  upon  the  supposition  that  the  ridge  was 
a  terminal  moraine.  The  extension  was,  indeed,  com- 
paratively slight,  scarcely  observable;  yet  the  hesi- 
tancy it  produced  in  our  minds,  before  indorsing  our 
first  impressions,  led  us  finally  to  a  discovery  of  its 


APPENDIX.  499 

true  origin.  Subsequent  inv^estigations  in  a  neigh- 
boring valley,  where  several  of  these  pseudo-moraines 
were  in  process  of  formation,  acquainted  us  with  all 
the  features  of  their  origin. 

We  will  explain,  first,  the  formation  of  the  mimic 
medial  moraines.  These  are  very  rarely  met  with, 
as  they  are  only  formed  in  broadish  valleys,  where 
one  or  both  of  the  sides  presents  this  structure  :  first, 
rising  from  the  bottom  of  the  valley,  a  ]3erpendicular 
or  very  abrupt  cliff;  above  this  a  comparatively  gen- 
tle slope ;  and  overhanging  this  another  abrupt  cliff'. 
Now  the  fragments  broken  from  this  first  roll  down 
the  slope,  gaining  impetus  in  the  descent,  then  shoot 
over  the  lower  cliff  far  out  into  the  valley,  and  in 
time  an  enormous  accumulation  is  formed.  When 
the  above  geologic  structure  characterizes  the  flank- 
ing wall  of  the  valley  for  some  considerable  distance, 
there  is  created  a  line  of  debris,  more  or  less  contin- 
uous, which  very  closely  mimics  the  medial  deposits 
of  a  glacier. 

The  pseudo-terminal  moraines  are  formed  in  the 
following  manner :  occasionally  the  flanking  wall  of 
a  valley  forms  a  great  trough,  very  wide  at  the  top 
and  quite  contracted  below,  so  that  the  material  from 
a  considerable  extent  of  slope  or  cliff  above  is  thrown 
upon  nearly  the  same  point  in  the  valley  below. 
During  the  ^vinter  the  snow  falling  upon  the  abrupt 
slopes  of  this  great  trough  is  constantly  forming  av- 


500  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

alanches  that  shoot  down  into  the  valley,  and  form 
an  immense  talus  or  slope  of  snow,  the  base  of  which 
may  come  to  occupy  the  entire  breadth  of  the  valley, 
even  if  it  be  several  hundred  yards  wide.  The  val- 
ley is  thus  completely  bridged,  and  the  rocks  shot 
down  the  trough  glide  over  the  snow-slope  to  the 
opposite  side.  As  upon  the  advance  of  summer  the 
talus  gradually  diminishes,  the  boulders  are  carried 
a  less  and  less  distance  from  the  side  whence  they 
come,  and  thus  in  time  form  an  immense  wall  com- 
pletely across  the  valley,  which  bears  every  resem- 
blance to  the  terminal  accumulation  of  a  glacier. 

With  this  single  illustration  of  the  difficulties  at- 
tending our  work,  and  of  the  caution  necessary  to  be 
exercised  in  the  prosecution  of  our  inquiries,  we  will 
proceed  at  once  to  an  examination  of  the  several 
glacial  valleys  which  we  have  taken  as  representative 
ones  in  our  present  study. 

Opening  into  the  Vale  of  Cashmere  upon  the  north- 
east is  the  Sinde  Valley,  leading  up  among  the  mount- 
ains a  distance  of  sixty  or  seventy  miles  to  the  Lojji- 
Im-Pass,  which  at  an  elevation  of  11,300  feet  gives 
access  to  the  valley  of  Dras.  This  was  one  of  the 
valleys  we  chose  for  our  operations.  At  its  embou- 
chure it  is  about  a  mile  in  width,  and  presents  quiet, 
beautiful  scenery  for  two  days  up  its  course,  its  bot- 
tom being  sprinkled  with  walnut,  mulberry,  and  wild 
apricot. 


APPENDIX.  501 

Above  Gond,  the  second  station,  a  little  cluster  of 
native  huts,  the  scenery  of  the  valley  changes,  and 
suddenly  becomes  Alj)ine.  The  vale  abruptly  nar- 
rows to  a  wild  gorge,  in  places  not  more  than  two 
hundred  feet  in  width,  walled  by  towering  cliffs  of 
basaltic  rocks,  which  have  piled  the  bottom  of  the 
gorge  with  huge  blocks,  among  which  the  torrent, 
with  a  rapid  fall,  dashes  so  furiously  as  to  render  the 
passage  at  times  of  high  water  extremely  difficult 
and  dano^erous.  We  failed  to  estimate  the  heisfht  of 
the  cliffs,  as  a  few  hundred  feet  above  our  heads  the 
clouds  concealed  them ;  and  we  only  knew  that  they 
must  reach  far  up  into  the  mists  from  the  large 
streams  gathered,  which  came  leaping  down  from  be- 
neath the  clouds. 

Following  up  this  difficult  defile  for  a  few  miles, 
we  find  that  the  valley  suddenly  expands  to  a  mile 
and  a  half  in  breadth,  forming  the  Charaounix  of  this 
portion  of  the  Himalayas.  The  valley,  indeed,  is 
transformed  into  a  miniature  upland  plain,  encircled 
by  lofty  mountains.  The  snowy  Kolohoy,  or  Gwas- 
brari,  rising  to  an  elevation  of  over  seventeen  thou- 
sand feet,  is  the  Blanc  of  the  environing  peaks. 

In  this  vale  we  discovered  the  first  traces  of  gla- 
cial action  we  had  met  with  among  the  Himalayas. 
Right  at  the  lower  end  of  this  little  plain  lies  an  im- 
mense and  most  interesting'  morainic  accumulation. 
A  glance  at  the  annexed  ,chart,  constructed  upon  the 


502 


EEMAINS   OF   LOST  ElklPIRES. 


spot  from  actual  measurements  of  all  the  most  im- 
portant lines  and  elevations,  will  reveal  at  once  the 
disposition  of  the  moraines  to  which  we  shall  first 
direct  our  attention. 


MORAINES,  SINDE   VALLEY. 


The  bottom  of  the  vale  where  these  moraines  lie 
has  an  elevation  of  about  nine  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea-level.  The  height  of  the  surrounding  peaks 
varies  from  fourteen  thousand  to  over  seventeen 
thousand  feet.  The  valley  indicated  upon  the  chart 
as  "  Sonomarg  Valley "  is  a  ravine  not  more  than 
four  hundred  yards  in  width,  leading  up  to  the  snow- 
fields  of  Gwasbrari,  the  highest  peak  that  could  ever 


APPENDIX.  503 

have  poured  its  glaciers  into  the  Sinde  Valley.  The 
cliffs  bordering  the  valley  of  Souomarg  are  wholly 
basaltic,  wliile  those  that  hem  the  Sinde  Valley  are 
limestone.  Did  not  the  position  of  the  moraines  rep- 
resented upon  the  chart  at  once  reveal  whence  the 
glacier  must  have  come  that  formed  them,  this  would 
be  immediately  discovered  by  the  nature  of  the  de- 
hris  composing  them.  Not  a  block  of  limestone  is 
found  in  the  accumulation,  which  indicates  that  the 
whole  material  was  unmistakably  derived  from  the 
Souomarg  Valley.  That  no  portion  of  the  deposit 
was  formed  by  a  glacier  pushing  down  the  Sinde 
Valley  has  an  importance  that  will  appear  a  little 
later,  when  we  come  to  examine  some  moraines  lying 
higher  up  this  valley. 

The  position  of  the  moraines,  as  they  lie  upon  the 
chart,  indicates  the  movements  of  the  ancient  glacier : 
descending  from  the  Souomarg  Valley,  which  em- 
bogues  into  the  Sinde  at  an  acute  angle,  just  at  the 
point  where  the  latter  suddenly  contracts  to  the  nar- 
row gorge  already  referred  to,  the  glacier,  unable  to 
force  its  heavy  stream  through  the  contracted  pas- 
sage, poured  itself  into  the  Sinde  Valley,  spread 
across  the  broad  bottom,  and  actually  pushed  its 
moraines  some  little  distance  up  the  vale. 

The  amount  of  material  carried  into  the  valley  by 
the  glacier  is  astonishing,  and  indicates  the  great 
length  of  time  employed  in  its  work.     The  trans- 

Mm 


504  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

portation  of  such  immense  heaps  of  debris  by  the 
slow  processes  of  glacial  movements  must  have  re- 
quired many  thousand  years.  The  moraine  that 
blocked  the  gorge,  and  prevented  any  part  of  the 
glacier  from  following  that,  its  natural  path,  is  five 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  height  where  it  lies  across 
the  face  of  the  defile;  from  this  point  it  gradually 
sinks  in  elevation  to  two  hundred  feet;  and  finally, 
after  running  over  a  mile,  is  represented  by  a  train  of 
scattered  boulders  lying  along  the  stream,  which  is 
pushed  against  the  cliffs,  and  sent  a  long  way  around 
the  corner  of  the  vale.  This  gigantic  ridge  is  clothed, 
in  part,  with  a  heavy  forest  of  firs ;  when,  upon  issuing 
from  the  gorge,  we  first  encountered  it,  we  believed 
it  simply  an  immense  spur,  shooting  out  from  the 
mountain  wall.  A  corresponding  ridge,  lying  higher 
up  the  valley,  and  nearly  uniting  with  this,  completes 
the  exterior  wall  of  the  entire  accumulation. 

The  periodical  retreats  of  the  glacier  are  indicated 
by  the  successive  moraines  found  within  this  older 
and  outer  rampart.  There  are  five  of  these  moraines, 
each  forming  a  perfect  semicircular  wall,  somewhat 
resembling  in  shape  a  horseshoe,  and  recording,  by 
its  thickness  and  height,  the  comparative  length  of 
the  halts  of  the  retreating  glacier.  The  first,  taken 
in  the  order  of  formation,  is  the  largest,  being  fully 
two  hundred  feet  in  height ;  the  thick,  massive  nat- 
ure of  the  entire  ridge  indicates  that  after  its  first 


APPENDIX.  505 

retirement  from  the  line  of  tlie  outer  moraine  the 
glacier  must  have  delayed  at  this  point  for  a  length 
of  time  approximating  the  period  spent  in  construct- 
ing the  outer  rampart.  A  considerable  portion  of 
the  slopes  of  this  moraine  is  loaded  with  a  forest  of 
firs  and  birches. 

The  second  moraine  is  a  fir-clothed  ridge,  from  sixty 
to  eighty  feet  in  height,  separated  from  the  first  and 
third  moraine  by  intervals  of  marshy  land,  in  each 
instance  about  two  hundred  yards  in  w^idth.     The 
third,  with  a  very  uniform  elevation  of  about  seventy 
feet,  is  a  carefully  built  ridge  of  rock  and  earth,  with 
so  sharp  an  edge  that,  after  we  had  succeeded  in 
leading  our  horses  by  a  zigzag  course  to  its  summit, 
we  could  not  lead  them  along  the  top,  it  being  so 
narrow  that  often  a  single  boulder,  poised  upon  the 
edge,  completely  barred  the  way.     Between  this  mo- 
raine and  the  fourth  lies  a  train  of  boulders,  marking 
the  terminal  line  along  which  the  glacier  commenced 
to  form  an  accumulation,  but  suddenly  retreated  forty 
or  fifty  yards,  and  then  threw  up  a  wall  perfect  and 
symmetrical  as  though  built  by  hand.    At  a  distance 
of  only  a  few  yards  from  this  is  another  immense  mo- 
raine, which  repeats  in  every  particular  the  features 
of  its  twin  companion.     After  forming  this  double 
rampart,  the  glacier  appears  not  to  have  halted  again, 
but  to  have  made  an  uninterrupted  retreat  up  the 
Sonomarg  Valley,  not  delaying  at  any  point  a  sufifi- 


506  REMAINS    OF  LOST   EMPIRES. 

cient  length  of  time  to  throw  dowu  any  considerable 
burden  of  rock. 

Now  in  this  interesting  concentric  series  of  mo- 
raines we  have  an  exact  measure  of  the  strength,  and 
a  complete  record  of  all  the  work,  of  the  ancient  gla- 
cier of  the  Sonomarg  Valley ;  and,  moreover,  we  have 
what  may  be  considered  a  just  index  of  the  amount 
of  ancient  glacial  action  in  all  valleys  among  the 
Himalayas  of  an  equal  elevation  where  there  are 
mountains  of  the  same  height  and  snow-fields  of  the 
same  extent  as  lie  about  the  valley  of  Sonomarg, 
but  where  the  nature  of  the  valleys  and  flanking 
mountains  has  been  less  favorable  for  the  registering 
or  preservation  of  the  traces  of  glacial  action.  That 
no  portion  of  the  Sonomarg  glacier  pushed  through 
the  narrow  gorge  of  which  we  have  spoken,  thus 
leaving  but  a  partial  record  of  its  transporting  power 
in  the  morainic  accumulation  now  lying  in  the  Sinde 
Valley,  is  evidenced  by  the  position  of  the  immense 
moraine  that  lies  in  the  throat  of  the  gorge,  as  well 
as  by  the  present  appearance  of  the  cliffs  of  the  ra- 
vine, which  at  a  hundred  points  absolutely  negative 
the  idea  of  a  glacier  ever  having  pushed  through  it ; 
for  certainly  no  glacier  could  ever  have  forced  itself 
through  the  narj'ow  defile  without  having  plainly  re- 
corded its  passage.  Thus  we  may  accept  the  accumu- 
lation undei'  question,  not  as  a  partial,  but  a  complete 
register. 


APPENDIX.  507 

But  wliile  tlie  complete  series  of  moraines  records 
tlie  aggregate  labor  performed  by  the  glacier,  the 
outer  moraiuic  line,  marking  unmistakably  the  ex- 
treme limit  of  the  glacier's  movements,  proves  (1) 
either  that  the  glacier  upon  pushing  into  the  Sinde 
encountered  a  climate  sufficiently  warm  to  waste  it 
before  it  pushed  quite  across  the  valley;  or  (2)  that 
the  duration  of  the  ice  period,  between  its  commence- 
ment and  culmination,  was  simply  sufficiently  long 
to  allow  the  Sonomarg  mountains  to  form  a  glacier 
of  sufficient  strength  to  push  well  into,  but  not  com- 
pletely across,  the  Sinde  Valley.  To  suj^pose  it  a 
record  of  the  latter  is  to  proceed  directly  in  the  face 
of  all  the  phenomena  presented  by  existing  glaciers, 
and  to  substitute  paroxysmal  for  gradual  action  as 
the  law  characterizing  geological  changes ;  for  to  sup- 
pose that  during  the  period  of  its  growth  no  portion 
of  the  extending  glacier  was  wasted  by  being  pushed 
down  into  a  warmer  climate,  is  to  presuppose  that 
the  lowering  of  the  snow-line  during  the  advance  of 
the  glacial  period  was  more  rapid  than  the  extension 
of  the  glacier.  Now  the  movement  of  a  glacier,  un- 
der favorable  circumstances,  such  as  we  here  suppose 
to  have  existed,  is  several  hundred  feet  annually.  It 
is  wholly  unscientific  to  assume  any  such  sudden  re- 
duction of  temperature.  We  must  believe  that  dur- 
ing the  first  centuries  of  the  ice  period  the  line  of 
cold  crept  vei-y  slowly,  with  a  scarcely  appreciable 


508  REMAINS   OF  LOST   EMPIRES. 

advance,  down  the  mountain  flanks,  and  that  one  cent- 
ury saw  but  a  very  narrow  belt  frosted  that  during 
the  preceding  one  had  been  free  from  snow  and  ice ; 
and  thus  we  may  safely  assume  that  at  no  time  was 
the  slowdy  descending  line  of  cold  in  advance  of  the 
lengthening  glacier — so  that  the  latter  should  have 
its  annual  advance  determined,  not  by  the  climate  into 
which  it  might  be  pushing,  but  solely  by  the  quan- 
tity of  snow  falling  upon  the  fields  above — but  rather 
that  the  foot  of  the  glacier  was  ever  in  advance  of 
the  falling  frost-line,  and,  consequently,  was  constant- 
ly subjected  to  the  influence  of  a  wasting  tempera- 
ture. Hence  the  extension  of  the  glacier  can  not 
be  taken  as  an  index  of  the  actual  time  spent  in 
making  that  advance ;  but  it  may  indicate  the  mini- 
mum time  in  which  it  could  have  been  made.  For 
illustration :  Suppose  we  find  the  foot  of  a  glacier  to 
be  five  miles  below  the  point  formerly  marked  by  it. 
Take  the  maximum  annual  progress  of  a  glacier  to 
be  one  hundred  feet.  Then  we  may  be  sure  that  the 
glacier  must  have  been  at  least  two  hundred  and 
sixty-four  years  in  making  the  advance.  But  we 
have  seen  that  the  minimum  time  can  never  be  iden- 
tical with  the  actual.  Hence  we  can  not  consider 
the  morainic  record  in  the  Sinde  Valley  as  indicating 
the  actual  period  occupied  by  the  Sonomarg  glacier 
in  making  the  advance  from  which  it  has  now  re- 
treated ;  in  other  words,  it  can  not  be  used  as  data 


I 


APPENDIX. 


509 


for  determiuing  the  duration  of  the  ice  period  be- 
tween its  commencement  and  culmination. 


TERMINAL   MOKAINES,  SIXDE  VALLEY. 

So  we  have  only  left  the  former  of  the  two  possi- 
ble inferences ;  w^hich  is,  that  the  Sonomarg  glacier, 
after  pushing  into  the  Sinde,  encountered  a  temper- 
ature sufficiently  high  to  so  waste  the  front  of  its  ad- 
vancing mass  that  it  was  unable  to  extend  itself  en- 
tirely across  the  open  valley.  That  is,  we  here  find 
the  limit  of  the  glacier's  action :  a  limitation  deter- 
mined, not  by  the  denial  of  sufficient  time  for  growth 
— that  may  have  been  any  period  short  of  infinity, 
as  far  as  any  thing  to  the  contrary  that  our  data 
give   us — but  by  the  nature   of  the  climate  reign- 


510  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

ing  in  the  Siucle  Valley  during  the  ice  period.  As 
corroborative  of  this  conclusion,  we  shall  now  pro- 
ceed to  examine  some  other  moraines  lying  in  the 
same  valley. 

About  two  miles  above  the  interesting  accumula- 
tion that  we  have  been  examining  are  two  large  ter- 
minal moraines,  from  seventy  to  eighty  feet  in  height, 
lying  directly  across  the  Sinde  Valley,  and  forming 
two  vast  dams,  about  the  extremities  of  which  the 
stream  has  forced  a  passage.  The  two  ridges  run 
parallel  to  each  other,  with  an  interval  between  their 
bases  of  not  more  than  sixty  feet ;  the  length  of  each 
is  about  five  hundred  yards.  The  boulders  of  both 
moraines  are  exclusively  limestone,  and  the  deteriora- 
tion they  have  suffered  gives  the  accumulation  the 
appearance  of  a  higher  antiquity  than  is  suggested 
by  the  sharply  cut  faces  of  the  basaltic  boulders 
comprising  the  moraines  pushed  into  the  valley  by 
the  Sonomarg  glacier. 

From  these  moraines  we  followed  uji  the  valley  a 
distance  of  twelve  miles,  to  the  Lojji-Im-Pass,  in  or- 
der to  ascertain  whether  the  head  of  the  valley  were 
still  occupied  by  a  glacier.  We  found  the  bordering 
cliffs  throughout  the  entire  distance  so  crumbled 
down  into  immense  tali  that  we  could  not  expect  to 
discover  any  evidence  of  former  glaciation ;  especially 
as  the  soft  rock,  wherever  exposed  along  the  bottom 
of  the  valley,  had  suffered  such  deterioration  as  to 


APPENDIX.  511 

obliterate  all  traces  of  striae.  The  valley  was  occu- 
pied to  the  very  foot  of  the  last  abrupt  ascent  to  the 
pass  by  detached  groves  of  pine  and  fir,  and  was 
throughout,  to  the  summit  of  the  pass  (eleven  thou- 
sand three  hundred  feet),  free  from  snow. 

Now  respecting  the  question  whether  the  two  ter- 
minal moraines  mark  the  extreme  limit  of  the  ancient 
glacier  that  pushed  down  from  the  head  of  the  Sinde 
Valley,  w^e  have  no  hesitation  in  responding  in  the 
afiarmative ;  for  had  the  glacier  advanced  farther,  it 
would  have  mingled  the  limestone  blocks  with  which 
it  was  freighted  with  the  basaltic  boulders  heaped 
into  the  valley  by  the  Sonomarg  glacier.  But  no 
such  commingling  took  place.  There  is  not  a  single 
limestone  boulder  to  be  discovered  in  the  latter  ac- 
cumulation; all  the  moraines  are  composed  exclu- 
sively of  basaltic  blocks,  and  all  the  boulders  cast 
sporadically  about  the  immediate  locality  are  of  the 
same  nature.  Nor  is  there  in  that  portion  of  the 
valley  embraced  between  the  twin  moraines  and  the 
debris  of  the  Sonomarg  glacier  a  single  traveled  boul- 
der. Thus  these  twin  ramparts  mark  the  low^est 
point  reached  by  the  glacier  of  the  main  valley. 
Thouo-h  free  to  advance  till  it  abutted  against  the 
moraines  of  the  Sonomarg  stream,  it  is  evident  that 
it  halted  here,  not  because  it  met  obstructions,  but 
because  it  had  pushed  into  a  climate  that  wasted  its 
strength. 


512  KEMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

It  may  seem  strange,  at  first  view,  that  the  glacier 
from  the  lateral  valley  of  Sonomarg  should  have  car- 
ried down  so  much  more  material  than  was  trans- 
ported by  the  stream  of  the  main  valley,  especially 
as  the  length  of  the  former  could  not  have  equaled 
that  of  the  latter ;  for  at  the  distance  of  two  or  three 
miles  from  the  ancient  moraines  the  bottom  of  the 
Sonomarg  Valley  is  lifted  quite  abruptly  to  the  snow- 
fields  of  Gwasbrari.  But  this  seeming  discrepancy 
is  at  once  explained  if  w^e  note  the  difference  in  the 
nature  and  amount  of  the  material  thrown  down  by 
the  limestone  and  basaltic  cliffs  that  respectively 
border  the  two  valleys.  While  the  stratified  walls 
of  the  Sinde  are  buttressed  by  shoots  formed  large- 
ly of  disintegrated  material,  the  Sonomarg  cliffs  are 
heaped  all  along  with  huge  fragments  of  basalt ;  and 
thus,  while  the  glacier  occupying  the  former  valley 
would  be  loaded  with  deteriorated  rock,  which  would 
to  a  large  extent  be  washed  off  the  ice,  and  carried 
away  by  the  action  of  running  water,  the  Sonomarg 
stream  would  be  freighted  with  indestructible  blocks, 
just  suited  to  the  building  up  of  permanent  barriers. 

We  accept,  then,  the  evidence  given  by  the  mo- 
raines lying  in  the  Sinde  Valley  as  doubly  conclusive 
respecting  the  limitation  of  ancient  glacial  action  in 
that  valley ;  and,  consequently,  as  indicating,  with  a 
certain  degree  of  positiveness,  the  limits  at  which  we 
may  look  for  the  termination  of  glacial  phenomena 


APPENDIX.  513 

among  Himalayau  peaks  of  an  altitude  corresponding 
to  those  about  the  locality  under  consideration.  As 
already  remarked,  the  moraines  of  the  Sinde  lie  at 
an  elevation  of  eio;ht  thousand  five  hundred  feet, 
while  the  peaks  among  which  the  glaciers  were 
formed  vary  from  fifteen  thousand  to  eighteen  thou- 
sand feet  in  height.  The  Gwasbrari  has  broad,  ele- 
vated snow -fields,  lying  only  about  two  thousand 
feet  below  its  summit,  which  are  now  vast  reservoirs 
for  the  accumulation  of  the  winter  snows. 

We  now  ask.  How  much  below  the  point  reached 
by  existing  glaciers  did  the  ancient  ice  streams  push? 
Fortunately  there  are  glaciers  lying  in  some  of  the 
lateral  valleys  of  the  Sinde,  so  that  we  can  right  here 
measure  the  retreat  that  has  been  made.  We  have 
already  seen  that  the  glacier  which  formerly  occupied 
the  main  valley  has  entirely  disappeared.  (It  will  be 
recalled  that  the  distance  between  the  twin  moraines 
and  the  Lojji-Im-Pass  is  about  eleven  miles.)  But 
hanging  high  up  in  two  of  its  lateral  ravines  are  two 
small  glaciers,  pushing  down  from  the  snowy  peaks 
on  the  right  side  of  the  valley.  As  these  are  both 
inaccessible,  we  could  not  carry  our  barometer  to  the 
foot  of  either,  and  thus  could  only  estimate  their  ele- 
vation, which  we  placed  at  about  eight  hundred  feet 
above  the  two  terminal  moraines.  But  in  the  lateral 
Sonomarg  Valley  we  were  aljle  to  secure  an  actual 
measurement.     A  little  over  three  miles  from  its  em- 


514  KEMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

bouchure  the  floor  of  the  valley,  as  we  have  already 
said,  is  abruptly  lifted  several  hundred  feet,  forming 
a  precipitous  descent,  which  must  have  created  a 
grand  cataract  in  the  ancient  ice  stream.  This  preci- 
pice is  finely  polished  and  striated.  Over  it  now 
leaps  a  small  stream,  issuing  from  the  foot  of  the 
glacier,  which  hangs  just  on  the  verge  of  the  descent. 
We  succeeded  in  carrying  our  instrument  to  the 
point  where  the  stream  escapes  from  beneath  the  ice, 
and  found  our  elevation  above  the  ancient  moraines 
to  be  seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  Two  other  small- 
er glaciers,  at  a  considerably  higher  altitude  than 
this,  push  their  terminal  moraines  in  sight  in  two  of 
the  valleys  leading  from  the  snow-fields  of  the  Kolo- 
hoy  into  the  Sonomarg.  The  foregoing  will  be  suf 
ficient  to  indicate  the  difference  of  extension  between 
the  ancient  and  present  glaciers. 

Before  dismissing  the  subject  of  the  glacial  phe- 
nomena of  the  Sinde  Valley,  one  word  will  be  in 
place  respecting  the  absence  of  all  medial  and  lateral 
moraines.  This  is  not  at  all  strange,  considering  the 
nature  of  the  two  principal  valleys.  For  the  forma- 
tion of  a  medial  moraine  there  is  required  the  union 
of  two  glacial  streams,  approximating  somewhat  to 
each  other  in  volume;  for  if  one  be  disproportion- 
ably  small,  it  is  received  by  the  larger  as  a  simple 
tributary,  and  all  of  its  material  is  eventually  crowd- 
ed against  the  side  of  the  valley,  and  goes  to  swell 


I 


APPENDIX.  515 

the  lateral  accumulation  of  the  main  stream.  Now 
it  so  happens  that  neither  the  Sonomarg  nor  Sinde 
Valley  branches  out  into  arms  of  such  nearly  equal 
size  as  to  render  it  difficult  to  determine  which 
should  be  considered  the  trunk;  but  each  preserves 
its  integrity,  and  all  of  the  lateral  ravines  opening 
into  either  are  comparatively  small.  In  such  valleys 
we  should  not  look  for  medial  deposits. 

But  then  we  might  consider  the  circumstances  fa- 
vorable for  the  formation  of  lateral  moraines.  Fa- 
vorable, certainly,  for  the  forming  of  such ;  but  the 
abruptness  of  the  sides  of  both  valleys  absolutely 
forbid  permanence  to  such  accumulations.  Upon  the 
retreat  of  the  glaciers,  such  moraines  would  immedi- 
ately lose  their  distinctive  features,  and  be  obscured 
by  the  forming  tali. 

As  confirmatory  of  the  conclusions  at  which  we 
have  arrived  by  our  examination  of  the  evidence 
yielded  by  the  Sinde  Valley,  we  will  now  proceed  to 
the  examination  of  another  locality,  which  affords  un- 
usuall}^  favorable  opportunities  for  the  collection  of 
evidence  upon  the  subject  under  consideration. 

Separated  from  the  Cashmere  Valley  on  the  north 
by  a  lofty  ridge,  crossed  at  an  elevation  of  eleven 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy  feet  by  the 
Eajdiangan  Pass,  is  a  valley  known  to  the  natives 
as  the  Kishun  Gunga;  the  stream  that  threads  it 
is  fed,  in  part,  by  the  northern  rivulets  of  the  same 


516  REMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

peaks  that  drain  their  southern  waters  into  the  Sinde. 
This  valley  has  several  large  lateral  valleys  opening 
into  it,  and  which  lead  up  to  peaks  varying  from  thir- 
teen thousand  to  sixteen  thousand  feet  in  elevatiou ; 
thus,  it  will  be  observed,  falling  in  their  average 
height  about  one  thousand  feet  below  the  average 
elevation  of  the  peaks  about  the  Sinde.  Perpetual 
snow  tips  several  of  these  mountains,  and  the  heats 
of  July  and  August  even  fail  to  clear  some  of  the 
higher  passes;  but  no  glaciers  are  formed. 

We  entered  the  valley  at  Kuntlwan,  a  little  clus- 
ter of  native  huts,  where  the  summer  trail  from  Cash- 
mere to  Skardo  drops  into  it.  Thirty-five  miles  above 
this  point  the  valley  is  joined  by  the  tributary  valley 
of  Burzil,  eight  or  ten  miles  in  length,  which  leads 
up  to  the  pass  of  Stakpild,  twelve  thousand  nine 
hundred  feet  in  elevation,  with  the  peaks  immedi- 
ately about  rising  two  thousand  feet  higher.  The 
geological  formation  of  these,  and  of  the  flanks  of 
the  valley,  is  a  coarse-textured  granite;  but  just  as 
the  vale  reaches  the  Kishun  Gunga  the  cliffs  on  the 
right  change  to  greenstone,  and  this  kind  of  rock 
forms  the  right  flank  of  the  valley  for  a  mile  below 
the  opening  of  the  Burzil.  At  this  point  another 
granite  -  walled  tributary  opens  into  the  Kishun 
Gunga;  below  this,  both  of  the  flanks  of  the  main 
valley  suddenly  change  to  slate,  and  before  reaching 
Kuntlwan  (thirty  miles  below)  present  successively 


APPENDIX.  51^ 

cliffs  of  shale,  schist,  limestone,  and  basalt.  For  a 
considerable  portion  of  its  course  the  valley  has  a 
broadish  bottom,  at  some  points  more  than  a  mile 
in  breadth,  and  is  but  partially  clothed  with  forest. 
At  several  points  the  limestone  and  basaltic  rock 
shoot  out  spurs,  and  form  isolated  tells  in  the  val- 
ley ;  so  that  no  glacier  could  possibly  move  down  it 
without  leaving  upon  these  permanent  records  of  its 
passage. 

Here,  then,  we  have  a  locality  admirably  fitted  for 
our  work.  We  have  a  central  valley  entirely  dif- 
ferent in  geologic  formation  from  its  tributaries — a 
main  valley  lined  all  along  with  basalt,  limestone, 
schist,  shale,  and  slate ;  and  emboguing  into  this 
lateral  valleys,  flanked  with  granitic  walls,  and  ris- 
ing up  to  passes  and  peaks  of  similar  geologic  struct- 
ure. Now  it  is  evident  that  a  glacier  pouring  from 
one  of  these  laterals  into  the  main  valley  would  carry 
with  it  a  large  quantity  of  granitic  debris,  and  scatter 
the  same  throughout  this  lower  valley.  Before  pro- 
ceeding to  an  examination  of  the  Kishun  Gunga,  with 
a  view  to  determine  whether  such  transportation  of 
materials  have  ever  taken  place,  we  will  observe  the 
nature  of  the  Burzil  tributary. 

This  valley  joins  the  Kishun  Gunga  at  an  eleva- 
tion of  about  eight  thousand  four  hundred  feet,  and 
then  sweeps  up  eight  or  ten  miles  to  the  pass  of 
Stakpild,  Avbich   has   an   altitude,  already  given,  of 


518  REMAINS   OF   LOST   EMPIRES. 

twelve  thousand  nine  hnuclred  feet.  There  is  abun- 
dant expanse  of  snow-fields  lying  about  the  pass,  and 
connecting  with  the  valley,  to  form  feeders  for  a  large 
o-lacier.  The  immense  tali  of  huge  blocks  thrown 
down  by  the  crumbling  cliffs  show  with  what  enor- 
mous quantities  of  boulders  a  glacier  moving  through 
the  valley  would  be  burdened;  for  five  or  six  miles 
the  glacial  stream,  supposing  one  to  have  existed, 
would  have  flowed  between  clifl:s  that  would  have 
been  constantly  heaping  their  ruins  upon  it. 

Now  we  inquire,  Has  the  material  of  this  valley 
been  transported  into  the  Kishun  Gunga?  If  so,  we 
shall  find  it  at  the  opening  of  the  Burzil,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Sonomarg— for  the  Kishun  Gunga  at  the 
junction  of  the  Burzil  is  wdde,  like  the  Sinde ;  or,  in 
case  the  main  valley  was  occupied  by  a  glacial  stream, 
we  shall  discover  the  material  carried  down  and  scat- 
tered throughout  it.  Now  we  examined  carefully 
the  Kishun  Gunga  for  a  distance  of  thirty-five  miles 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Burzil,  and  are  confident  that 
we  hazard  nothing  in  asserting  that  there  is  not  a 
single  glacier  -  transported  granitic  block  in  that 
lengthy  section  of  the  valley.  We  give  this  decis- 
ion with  the  less  hesitation  because  the  nature  of  the 
valley,  and  the  material  in  it,  are  of  such  a  character 
as  to  render  it  quite  impossible  for  any  such  foreign 
material  to  have  escaped  our  detection.  There  were, 
indeed,  throughout  the  entire  section,  granite  boul- 


APPENDIX.  519 

ders,  but  only  sucli  as  had  unmistakably  been  intro- 
duced by  the  agency  of  the  stream.  This  was  evi- 
denced by  two  circumstances,  each  in  itself  sufficient- 
ly conclusive :  (1)  the  change  observable  in  the  size 
of  the  boulders  in  passing  from  a  higher  to  a  lower 
level;  (2)  the  stratified  appearance  of  the  detritus. 
In  order  to  a  proper  appreciation  of  the  evidence  of 
the  first  fact,  it  will  be  necessary  to  refer  a  little 
more  particularly  to  the  geologic  character  of  the 
tributary  valleys  below  the  Burzil.  We  have  al- 
ready mentioned  the  existence  of  a  lateral  granitic 
valley  about  one  mile  below  this  tributary;  this  is 
the  last,  of  similar  geological  character,  joining  the 
Kishun  Guno-a  throu2;hout  the  section  under  consid- 
eration.  As  we  descend  the  Kishun  Gruuga  from  the 
junction  of  this  tributary,  the  granite  boulders  be- 
come gradually  less  numerous,  smaller,  and  more  wa- 
ter-worn, showing  conclusively  that  they  were  scat- 
tered throughout  the  valley  by  the  agency  of  run-  . 
ning  water. 

We  might,  then,  consider  ourselves  as  sufficiently 
cautious  should  we  immediately  draw  the  conclusion 
that  no  glacier  ever  emptied  from  the  Burzil  into 
the  Kishun  Gunga;  but  it  may  not  be  amiss  if  we 
strengthen  this  decision  by  observing  that  the  evi- 
dence given  by  the  Burzil  itself  strongly  negatives 
the  passage  through  it  of  a  glacial  stream.  This  evi- 
dence is  borne  l)y  many  a  long,  sharp,  projecting 


520  EEMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

rocky  spur,  which,  had  a  glacier  ever  crowded  down 
the  valley,  could  never  have  escaped  being  broken, 
rounded,  polished,  and  striated. 

But  although  we  may  novv^  consider  the  evidence 
advanced  as  establishing  the  fact  that  the  Burzil 
Valley  was  never  occupied  by  an  ancient  glacier,  still 
we  need  something  additional  to  prove  that  the  same 
is  true  of  the  Kishun  Gunga ;  for  demonstrating  that 
a  glacier  never  emptied  into  this  latter  valley  from 
the  former  does  not  necessarily  negative  the  former 
existence  of  a  glacier  in  this  main  valley;  because 
the  snow-fields  about  the  head  of  the  Kishun  Gunga 
may  have  formed  an  ice  stream  of  sufficient  strength 
to  push  down  past  the  embouchure  of  the  Burzil, 
even  while  that  valley  remained  entirely  free  from 
o-lacial  accumulations.  As  to  the  water-w^orn  mate- 
rial  found  in  the  lower  valley,  plainly  derived  from 
the  Burzil,  that  may  have  been  scattered  where  we 
now  find  it  subsequent  to  the  ice  period,  and  so  does 
not  assist  us  in  the  least  to  read  the  history,  or  to 
decide  respecting  the  condition  of  the  valley  during 
the  glacial  era;  we  must  examine  anew,  and  with 
special  reference  to  a  decision  of  this  question,  the 
debris  and  detritus  of  the  valley. 

The  condition  of  the  loose  material  in  the  Kishun 
Gunga  will  facilitate  this  work,  and  give  a  satisfac- 
tory conclusiveness  to  the  result  of  our  investigations. 
The  Avidth  of  the  valley  varies  from  one  hundred 


APPENDIX.  521 

vards  to  a  mile  or  more ;  at  times  the  borderinfr 
cliifs,  when  the  valley  contracts,  are  abrupt;  again, 
where  the  vale  opens,  they  become  gently  sloping 
and  w^ooded.  This  geologic  structure  of  the  valley 
is  favorable  both  for  the  reception  and  retention  of 
the  traces  of  glacial  action ;  for  (1)  in  crowding 
through  the  contracted  passes  the  march  of  the 
heavy  stream  would  be  jDermanently  recorded;  and 
(2)  in  the  broad-bottomed  sections  any  morainic  ac- 
cumulations would  be  distinctly  preserved. 

Respecting  the  first,  we  need  simply  state  that  a 
careful  examination  of  the  several  passes  occurring 
between  Burzil  and  Kuntlwan,  and  also  of  all  the 
exposed  rock  surface  in  the  bottom  or  along  the  side 
of  the  valley  that  could  possibly  be  subjected  to  gla- 
ciation,  revealed  no  traces  of  the  shaping,  polishing, 
and  striating  work  of  a  moving  ice  mass.  Often  the 
rock  was  so  exposed,  or  jutted  into  the  valley  in 
such  a  manner,  as  to  render  it  quite  impossible  for  a 
glacial  stream  to  have  ground  over,  or  j)ushed  past, 
without  leaving  traces  of  its  movements. 

It  now  remains  to  examine  the  loose  material  or 
deposits  found  in  the  valley.  Are  there  any  travel- 
ed boulders?  Are  there  any  ancient  medial  or  ter- 
minal moraines  ?  Are  there  any  traces  of  lateral  mo 
raines  ?  As  to  the  first  inquiry,  there  is  not  a  gla- 
cier-transported block  on  any  of  the  broad  bottoms 
of  the  valley.     The  boulders  occurring  are  such  as 


522  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

have  in  every  instance  leaped  from  the  adjoining 
cliffs:  a  fact  rendered  easy  of  confirmation  by  the 
constantly  changing  character  of  the  strata  flanking 
the  valley.  As  to  the  second  question,  which  is  mere- 
ly a  matter  of  observation,  we  need  only  state  that 
no  such  accumulations  exist. 

The  third  inquiry  we  have  made  a  separate  one, 
because  it  is  not,  like  the  second,  to  be  decided  by 
simple  observation,  but  demands  the  most  careful  ex- 
amination ;  for  the  reason  that  while  medial  and  ter- 
minal accumulations  can  not  easily  be  obliterated, 
lateral  moraines,  resting  precariously  on  the  flanks  of 
the  valley,  are  liable,  after  the  retreat  of  the  glacier, 
to  sink  down  into  the  valley,  or  to  be  completely 
buried  and  lost  beneath  the  slope  of  debris  constant- 
ly accumulating  at  the  base  of  the  cliffs. 

There  is  a  certain  feature  of  the  tali  of  the  Kishun 
Gunga  that  enabled  us  to  examine  them  satisfactori- 
ly with  reference  to  a  determination  of  the  question 
whether  the  debris  of  ancient  lateral  moraines,  broken 
down  and  obliterated,  were  mingled  with  the  materi- 
al composing  them.  At  numerous  points  these  slopes 
were  cut  by  deep  gullies,  and  their  entire  section  ex- 
posed. These  cuttings  revealed  the  fact  that  these 
shoots,  generally  formed  of  slate,  shale,  and  schist, 
were  hiding  heavy  terraces  composed  of  very  differ- 
ent material.  The  question  immediately  occurred  to 
us,  Is  not  this  buried  debris  the  remains  of  old  lateral 


APPENDIX.  523 

moraines  ?  We  soon  discovered  that  it  presented  dis- 
tinct traces  of  stratification,  and  that,  instead  of  being 
formed  of  the  angular  blocks  which  characterize  mo- 
rainic  accumulations,  it  was  made  up  exclusively  of 
water-worn  material.  Not  any  of  these  buried  ter- 
races lay  more  than  seventy  feet  above  the  stream, 
and  were  formed  by  the  river  when  flowing  at  a 
higher  level  than  at  present.  Thus  our  last  ques- 
tion must  also  be  answered  in  the  negative. 

We  now  observe  that  the  negative  evidence  which 
the  Kishun  Gunga  has  given  us  after  this  somewhat 
extended  examination  is  exactly  corroborative  of  the 
positive  evidence  yielded  by  the  Sinde  Valley.  The 
peaks  that  make  up  the  snow-fields  of  the  locality 
we  have  been  examining  are,  as  previously  observed, 
from  one  to  two  thousand  feet  lower  than  those  that 
feed  the  glaciers  of  the  Sinde  and  Sonomarg;  and 
thus,  after  noting  the  limitations  of  ancient  glacial 
action  in  the  latter  locality,  our  expectations  are  ex- 
actly met,  when  we  find  that  the  somewhat  lower 
peaks  surrounding  the  Kishun  Gunga  failed  entirely 
td  form  any  ice  streams  during  the  glacial  period. 
To  express  in  a  word  the  results  of  our  examina- 
tions, we  may  summarize  thus:  Cashmerian  Hima- 
layan peaks,  13,000  to  15,000  feet  high,  have  never 
formed  glacial  streams;  while  peaks  15,000  to  17,000 
feet  in  elevation  have  pushed  down  glaciers  to  a 
point  S500  to  9000  feet  above  the  sea-level — that  is. 


524  rejViains  of  lost  empires. 

800  or  1000  feet  below  the  line  to  which  present 
glaciers,  formed  among  the  same  mountains,  extend. 

It  is  unnecessary  for  us  to  particularize  further  re- 
specting our  explorations  in  other  valleys;  we  need 
simj^ly  say  that  the  investigation  in  all  was  conduct- 
ed in  the  same  manner  as  in  the  two  that  have  af 
forded  us  the  above  facts,  and  add  that  the  evidence 
elicited  by  such  examination  was,  in  every  instance, 
confirmatory  of  the  conclusions  forced  upon  us  by 
the  phenomena  presented  by  the  Sinde  and  Kishun 
Gunga.  The  larger  number  of  the  valleys  examined 
lie  about  the  following  passes,  which  are  crossed  by 
trails  leading  from  the  Valley  of  Cashmere  on  the 
north  and  east:  Lojji-Im-Pass,  11,300  feet;  Sansun- 
gau  Pass,  13,860  feet;  Stalkpild  Pass,  12,900  feet; 
Eajdiangan  Pass,  11,770  feet;  the  remainder  embrace 
the  valleys  leading  up  to  the  Pir  Punjal  and  Eutun 
Pir  passes,  crossed  by  the  Bimbour  trail,  one  of  the 
paths  which  give  access  to  the  Yale  of  Cashmere 
from  the  plains  of  India. 

The  foregoing  conclusions  may  seem,  at  first,  to  ex- 
hibit a  decided  disagreement  with  those  to  be  drawn 
from  the  facts  given  by  Dr.  Hooker.  But  this  is  not 
so.  They  do,  however,  militate  against  certain  in- 
ferences that  have  been  drawn  from  those  facts.  If 
we  mistake  not,  the  lowest  traces  of  glacial  action 
discovered  by  Hooker  among  the  Sikkim  and  N"epal 
Himalayas  were  at  an  elevation  of  about  8000  feet; 


APPENDIX.  525 

while  the  level  reached  by  existing  glaciers  was 
found  to  vary  from  12,000  to  16,000  feet.  From  a 
careful  comparison  of  the  various  measurements  he 
gives,  we  estimate  that  the  general  difference  be- 
tween the  descent  of  ancient  and  present  glaciers  in 
the  valleys  of  those  lofty  ranges  may  be  stated  as 
5000  to  6000  feet.  Now  it  has  been  inferred  that 
the  snow -line  suffered  a  depression  approximating 
these  figures.  But  we  have  seen  that,  among  the 
lower  Cashmerian  rano-es,  the  ice  streams  of  former 
times  did  not  extend  more  than  1000  feet  below  the 
influence  of  present  glaciers ;  and  that  the  dropping 
of  the  snow-line  must  be  expressed  by  even  smaller 
numbers.  But  by  whatever  causes  the  line  of  per- 
petual cold  was  pushed  dowm  uj^on  the  flanks  of  the 
Himalayas,  we  must  suppose  that  these  agencies  af- 
fected about  equally  the  climate  of  the  Cashmerian, 
Sikkim,  and  Nepal  provinces.  We  would  doubtless 
be  very  far  from  the  truth  should  we  suppose  that 
amono;  the  mountains  of  the  latter  the  snow-line  for- 
merly  lay  5000  to  6000  feet  below  its  present  level. 
Local  influences,  es2:)ecially  the  influence  of  vast 
breadths  of  snow,  might,  indeed,  conspire  to  aid  in 
the  depression  of  the  line  of  cold  among  the  extreme- 
ly elevated  peaks  of  the  Nepal  and  Sikkim  Hima- 
layas to  a  somewhat  lower  level  than  it  attained 
among  the  Cashmerian  ranges.  Yet  such  influences 
must  have  been  comparatively  feeble.     If  this  be  so, 


526  REMAINS   OF  LOST   EMPIRES. 

then  the.  descent  of  the  snow-line  during  the  glacial 
period,  measured  on  the  flanks  of  the  highest  ranges 
of  the  Himalayas,  would  be  somewhere  between  one 
and  two  thousand  feet.  We  have  not  the  requisite 
data  for  determining  the  numerical  relation  that  ex- 
ists between  the  depression  of  a  given  snow-line  and 
the  extension  of  existing  glaciers  as  the  result  of  such 
depression ;  but  so  confident  are  we  of  the  correct- 
ness of  the  conclusions  to  which  we  have  been  led 
by  the  phenomena  of  the  Cashmerian  valleys,  that 
we  entertain  no  doubt  but  that  the  dropping  of  the 
Himalayan  snow -line  from  1000  to  2000  feet  (the 
maximum  depression  that  our  observations  will  al- 
low us  to  believe  ever  took  place)  would  cause  Sik- 
kim  qnd  Nepal  glaciers,  which  now  hang  in  their 
lofty  valleys  at  from  12,000  to  16,000  feet  elevation, 
to  flow  down  and  choke  these  valleys  at  the  lower 
level  of  8000  to  11,000  feet,  the  extreme  limits 
reached  in  difl^erent  valleys  by  those  ancient  glacial 
streams. 

It  will  not  be  without  interest  for  us,  before  clos- 
ing this  chapter,  to  notice  the  bearing  of  the  facts 
which  we  have  been  studying  upon  the  interesting 
question  respecting  the  causes  instrumental  in  initi- 
ating the  glacial  epoch. 

It  is  an  axiom  in  geological  interpretation  that  lo- 
cal effects  should  look  for  their  explanation  in  local 
causes.     Thus,  while  the  investigation  of  glacial  plie- 


APPENDIX. 


D^V 


iiomena  was  confined  to  the  continent  of  Europe, 
and  observ^atiou  had  as  yet  tracked  ancient  glaciers 
over  a  comparatively  limited  field,  it  were  wholly 
unscientific  to  search  for  cosmic  causes  to  account 
for  the  circumscribed  effects :  hence  geological  rather 
than  astronomical  aa^encies  were  to  be  looked  to  for 
an  explanation  of  the  phenomena.  A  cataclysmal  or 
gradual  upheaval  of  vast  areas  of  the  continent  of 
Europe,  and  changes  in  the  polar  oceanic  currents, 
might  reasonably  find  a  place  in  any  theory  seeking 
for  the  causes  of  the  climatic  revolution. 

But  when  the  scored  mountains,  boulder  -  strewn 
plains,  and  moraine-traversed  valleys  of  North  Amer- 
ica witnessed  the  movement  of  a  vast  sheet  of  glacial 
ice  over  all  the  northern  portion  of  the  continent,  as 
low  as  the  parallel  of  39^,  then  to  some  it  seemed 
necessary,  supposing  the  ice  period  of  Europe  and 
that  of  America  to  have  been  synchronous,  to  search 
for  more  far-reaching  causes. 

Geologists  have  seldom  been  at  a  loss  to  dis- 
cover, amid  the  mighty  forces  of  geological  revo- 
lution, agencies  obviously  adequate  to  effect  any 
changes  that  observations  might  determine  our  plan- 
et to  have  imdergone.  But  when  asked  to  supply 
some  agency  or  combination  of  agencies  adequate  to 
the  creation  of  the  widely  extended  phenomena  of  the 
glacial  epoch — agents  adapted  and  proportionate  to 
the  work  of  simultaneously  loading  two  hemispheres 


528  EEMAINS   OF  LOST  EMPIRES. 

with  ice,  and  transforming  tlie  swift  streams  of  their 
mountains  into  slow,  majestic  rivers  of  ice — there  ap- 
peared, if  not  the  impotence  of  her  mightiest  forces 
in  the  presence  of  such  demands,  at  least  somewhat 
of  improbability  that  there  should  have  occurred 
such  a  conjunction  of  these  as  to  have  produced,  un- 
aided, all  the  observed  phenomena. 

Now  Astronomy  has  offered  to  become  the  ally 
of  Geology  and  help  to  grapple  the  difficulty.*  She 
has  suggested  that  hidden  in  the  almost  infinite  pe- 
riods of  her  changing  cycles  lies  the  secret  of  this 
geologic  revolution. f 

Annually  winter  creeps  down  from  the  pole,  and 
covers  with  snow  and  ice  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  continents  of  the  JSTorthern  Hemisphere;  the  lofty 
mountains  near  the  equator  push  their  summer  snow- 
limits  down  their  sides ;  while  those  peaks  not  lofty 
enough  to  bear  the  crown  through  all  the  year  are 
now  capped  with  snow  and  frost.  Gradually,  as 
spring  advances,  the  snow-line  is  lifted  again  upon 
the  mountain  flanks,  and  driven  back  from  the  con- 
tinents toward  the  pole. 

In  these  periodic  advances  and  retreats  of  winter 
we  see  a  repetition,  on  a  small  scale,  of  the  glacial 
epoch — a  mimic  reproduction  of  the  scenes  of  the 

*  "Popular   Science   Alontlily"   for   July,  187:]:  urt.  iii.,  by  N.  H. 
Winclicll. 

+  LycU's  "Principles  ol"  Geology,'"  bk.  i.,  cli.  vii. 


APPENDIX.  529 

world's  great  winter  iu  geologic  times.  Consequent 
upon  some  great  climatic  revolution,  resulting  in  the 
reduction  of  the  temperature  of  the  Northern  Hem- 
isphere, and  the  unwasted  accumulation  of  centuries 
of  snow,  the  sheet  of  ice  that  caps  the  northern  pole 
gradually  extended,  and  pushed  down  over  all  the 
continents  toward  the  equator,  in  masses  often  five 
thousand  feet  in  thickness. 

In  ascribing  such  universality  to  the  influences 
of  the  ice  period,  it  will  be  observed  that  we  are  not 
making  a  theoretic  extension  of  ancient  glacial  action 
beyond  the  broad  foundation  of  facts.  If  we  have 
not  failed  in  the  purposes  of  this  chapter,  we  have 
shown  that  the  climate  of  Asia  experienced  during 
the  glacial  epoch  a  change  corresj)onding  to  that  sut- 
fered  by  the  climate  of  Europe  and  North  America. 
Such  a  lowering  of  the  snow-line  of  the  Himalayas 
as  we  have  seen  actually  occurred  is  exactly  such 
as  we  should  expect  to  find  took  place  among  those 
mountains,  when  we  consider  the  nature  of  the  cli- 
mate of  Asia,  and  the  fact  that  the  Himalayan  ranges 
lie  15°  to  20°  nearer  the  equator  than  the  once  gla- 
ciated fields  of  the  United  States  and  EurojDe. 

Thus  while  the  snows  of  winter  spread  over  the 
plains  and  valleys  of  these  continents  that  were  for- 
merly covered  with  glacial  ice,  the  summer  snow-limit 
of  the  Himalayas  is  simply  lowered  a  few  thousand 
feet,  still  hanging  high  above  the  plains  of  India., 


530  REMAINS   OF   LOST  EMPIRES. 

So  during  the  glacial  or  cosmic  winter.  While  the 
northern  half  of  Europe  and  a  considerable  portion 
of  North  America  were  loaded  with  heavy  glaciers, 
the  snow -line  of  the  Himalayas  simply  dropped 
somewhat  lower,  and  the  glaciers  crept  a  little  far- 
ther down  the  valleys — those  communicating  with 
the  most  extensive  snow-fields  making  the  greatest 
descent. 

Now  this  parallelism  in  phenomena — this  similar- 
ity in  advance  and  retreat — which  we  find  to  exist 
between  the  annual  and  geologic  winters,  naturally 
leads  us  to  look  for  parallelism  in  their  originating 
causes;  and  is  thus  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  con- 
firmatory of  the  theory  of  the  astronomical  origin  of 
the  geological  epoch  of  cold ;  for  as  the  annual  cli- 
matic changes  to  which  the  Northern  and  Southern 
Hemispheres  are  subjected  result  from  familiar  as- 
tronomic movements,  there  arises  a  sort  of  presump- 
tion in  favor  of  the  concernment  of  similar  causes  in 
the  creation  of  the  like  phenomena  of  the  ice  period ; 
especially  when  we  find  that  these  are  not  of  a  local 
or  continental,  but  world-extended  nature,  occurring 
in  both  the  Northern  and  the  Southern  Hemisphere, 
and  differing  from  the  former  only  in  intensity  and 
duration. 

To  astronomy,  as  well  as  to  geology,  it  would  then 
seem  we  should  look  for  the  explanation  of  the  origin 
of  the  glacial  epoch.     When  we  ask.  Are  there  great 


APPENDIX.  531 

astronomical  cycles,  the  results  of  wliose  changing 
periods  would  naturally  be  the  glaciation  of  the 
Northern  and  Southern  Hemispheres  ?  and  receive  in 
answei',  There  are  such  cycles — as  the  precession  of 
the  equinox,  the  change  in  the  inclination  of  the 
earth's  axis,  and  the  variation  in  the  eccentricity  of 
the  earth's  orbit""' — of  vast  but  calculable  periodic- 
ity, whose  variations  either  singly  or  in  conjunction 
would  powerfully  effect  the  climate  of  our  planet, 
throwing  the  poles  alternately  into  the  rigoi-s  of  a 
long  geologic  winter,  measured  by  decades  of  millen- 
niums, then  ^^e  may  consider  the  theory  of  the  causal 
connection  between  the  glacial  era  and  the  variations 
of  the  astronomical  cycles  as  entitled,  at  least,  to  a 
provisional  acceptance. 

*  "  Popular  Science  Monthly"  for  July,  1873,  art.  iii.,  p.  291. 


THE    END. 


4 


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